The Life of James McCloud
by Trashbag08
Summary: Crime, war, death, and love, all through the eyes of James McCloud. The 26th and final chapter is up! I'll explain in the story. Please R&R! You can see my own review for the story in my profile.
1. Alone

**Alone**

---------Corneria City---------

Ten year old James McCloud was walking along the sidewalks of Corneria, carrying a bag of groceries he just bought. Since his mother was ill, he had to be the man of the house. His dad had died from a freak accident caused by some mad scientist named Andross. This man was responsible for most of the deaths in this city. Now he was on the run, and nobody's been able to catch him. Whenever James had to go outside, he always looked out for this guy. He was scared to death of him, thinking this man might kill him the same way as his dad. But he had to help his mother.

He was stepping onto the driveway when he saw it. The house was on fire! Firetrucks drove in and firemen started hosing water into the flames. He looked in horror, realizing his mom was nowhere in sight. _She's still in there... _He ran into the burning building, ignoring the firemen's shouts and the blinding smoke. He needed to save her! He looked around, shutting his eyes from the fire and smoke everywhere. He couldn't believe that this place he lived in for ten years was burning to the ground. He looked in the kitchen, which was where he found the source of the fire. The oven had been left on. His mom was nowhere to be seen. He ran upstairs, tripping on the last step. He picked himself back up again, rubbing his nose, and started looking in rooms that weren't on fire.

"MOM!" he shouted. No answer. "WHERE ARE YOU?" Drenched with sweat and coughing, he kept looking around desperately. Just when he was about to give up...

"Help..."

The voice was weak. _Please be okay. _ "Mom?"

"...in here...

James ran into the bedroom, the bed and curtains on fire. Sure enough, there was his mother. Her brown hair was badly burned, with some skin showing. He ran to her, kneeling down and crying. He hoped to God she wouldn't die. It was bad enough losing his dad. Now his mom? This can't be happening.

"Mom...You'll be alright..." his voice managed to cough out. The heat was relenting and he was feeling lightheaded.

"Honey..." He looked into her eyes, his vision fading to black.

---------Outside---------

James woke up, lying down on the concret. His head was hurting. Coughing, he got up. The house was reduced to a heaping pile of black rubble. A fireman came to help him. He gave him a cup of water.

"Kid, you alright?"

"Yeah, I'm okay...where's my mom?"

The fireman looked at him with sad eyes. He pointed to her, lying on the ground. "Oh no..."

James ran to her, with the cup of water the fireman gave him.

"Mom?"

"There you are..." Her voice was silent. James had to lean close to her just to hear her. But it was a sweet voice. Her eyes started to tear up.

"Mom? What is it?"

"Son...I want you to..."

"Huh? To what?"

"...run away."

James looked confused. "What? Why?"

She just stared at him, eyes watery.

"No..."

She went limp, drool running down her chin. James looked at her one final time and ran, dropping his cup.

"Hey, kid! Wait!" The firemen called after him, but James didn't stop. He kept running, just like his mom told him to.

The medic checked on his mother.

"How is she?" the fireman asked.

The medic was silent, shaking his head.

"My God..." He looked at the spilled cup.

---------A Dark Alleyway---------

Nighttime. James was sitting there out in the cold, crying. He's never going to see her again. He hated being alone, and this was just killing him. Rain started pouring, causing him to get up, and start walking somewhere else. He saw a foster home, and some open windows. It looked cozy. This was the only foster home in town. Maybe he should go in...

Then he heard crying. A kid was running away. He could see it all from the open window. The kid was crying. Then there was a teacher, dragging him away. He could hear the kid yelling in pain, and the teacher laughing. James was horrified. He had no idea they could treat kids like this. That's why his mother told him to leave. They would've stuck him in that foster home if he stayed put...

_Thanks, mom..._

_To be continued..._


	2. 10 Years Later

**10 Years Later...**

---------Police Department---------

James McCloud was 20 years old now. For a year now, he's worked with the Cornerian Police Department. He's got himself a nice home from all the money he's earned. Not enough for college, but hey, who can go to college these days? It was better than sitting around alleyways like he did after his mom died.

Andross was still on the run. He's been on the run for ten fucking years. That bastard was clever, but they'll get him someday. James made it his first priority, just as everyone else in the department. But what can he do? He's just a cop.

"Hey, Jimmy. Check this out..."

Peppy, an old friend of his, was checking up on the cameras. They were in charge of taking care of the drugstores, or watch them via cameras linked back to this department. They had cameras linked up to every drugstore in this city. Not exactly a great job, but it was better than nothing. Anyway, looks like there's a robber trying to, well, rob the place.

"Are you fucking kidding me? This is the fourth robbery this month." James got up, and headed out with Peppy following him.

"It's our job, Jimmy. Either you like it or you don't." They got in the car, and drove off. "Either way, we're getting paid."

In a couple of minutes, they found the drugstore. Sure enough, there were that dumb ass robber trying to look smart. He was pointing a gnat the clerk's head, who was kneeling down on the floor begging for mercy. A typical situation. James and Peppy got out of their cars, guns out. They kicked down the door.

"Freeze!"

The robber saw the cops, and pointed his gun at them. Peppy took a step forward.

"Okay, just calmly put your gun down, and you'll remain unharmed."

He wasn't listening. Typical. James looked at the clerk, who was hiding behind his desk. Then he got an idea. From the looks of him, he looks like he used to play football. He motioned towards the clerk. He rubbed his finger against his neck, as if cutting his head off. The clerk responded. BAM! He tackled the robber, knocking him to the ground. James ran up, kicking his gun away and putting his foot on the robber's chest.

"You know, it always has to be the stupid ones who try to hurt people. They're also usually the ones who don't listen. So let's try this again."

James pulled the robber onto his feet, and gave him his gun. "Calmly put your gun down, and we won't be forced to hurt you."

The robber paused for a minute. Then, he dropped it.

"Good. Now..."

Peppy went behind, and started to handcuff the man...

POW! The robber elbowed him in the ribs, causing him to fall on the floor! He made a break for his car. James started running to his car. He looked back at Peppy.

"Just...go..."

James ran for it, getting into his car. The robber already drove off. James left the parking lot, putting his siren on. He saw the robber took a left - into heavy traffic. Great. James had a lot of bad chases in his life, but never in traffic. It's fucking suicide! Well, it looked like he had no choice. He went left. The robber was a real pain, sweeping through cars and taking sharp turns. This guy just doesn't want a long life. He called the department.

"Adam Twelve, code eight!"

They responded. "Twelve code eight. Go ahead."

"I'm en route code three to a, uh...code nine, break--"

"Go ahead."

"I'm responding to the party, uh...showing physical as white male, six foot, two-eighty, blond and blue,

break--"

"Go ahead."

"Respond to...route 174!"

"Copy. Confirm both."

That was taken care of. Backup was on their way. Now he just had to make sure this guy doesn't do anything else stupid. Well fuck, he _had_ to say it. Now the robber is attempting to drive on the _wrong _side of the road. Like the traffic wasn't bad enough.

Good, backup. Another police car drove in behind him. It was Pigma Dengar, a friend of his. He was a bit older than Fox, thus he had more experience as a cop. Pigma held up four fingers, which meant he was asking if he was okay. James responded with holding his four fingers up. That meant he was fine. Pigma nodded, and drove away, up to the suspect. James followed.

Pigma attempted to ram into him. No good, the robber won't give up. Then James came up to his side, and tried to ram the car against the side. Still, this guy just doesn't know when to quit. Then it happened. The robber went full speed, trying to get away – when he crashed into an 18 wheeler.

"Shit..."

James slowed down, and got out. No doubt he was either dead or seriously injured. Pigma got out and checked the suspect. He wasn't dead, but his head was very bloody, and there was a hunk of metal stabbed into his chest, letting out a lot of blood. It looked like this guy was going to die anyway. The driver of the 18 wheeler was fine, but that's no surprise.

"Adam Twelve, this is dispatcher. We have a Paul Ida here. Requesting for a hook and an ambulance."

"Copy dispatcher. We're en route."

---------Hospital---------

"The robber died a few hours ago," said James. "Well, he was in a horrible condition to begin with. His report showed that he's been smoking marijuana a lot, and probably sniffed cocaine a couple of times."

Peppy had some fractured ribs, and the doctors were checking that out. He had to lie down, so it wouldn't hurt. James was with him, and he was telling him about the robber, which he just did.

"Well, these things happen. Now he's six feet under, I guess."

"Yeah. What a shame, spending your last hours of life robbing a shitty drugstore."

Chief Reinard walked into the room. "Hello, boys. Son, you alright?"

"Oh, I'll live."

"Well, I just want to say you boys did a good job out there."

James could see what was coming. "Well, thank you sir."

"And I think it's only appropriate to promote you."

Peppy jolted up, which caused excruciating pain in his chest. James laughed.

"Ow! Uh...thank you, sir!"

"You guys will be taking care of banks and car chases, if you don't mind."

James was a bit disappointed. But it was better than guarding drug stores.

"Yes sir. Thank you again."

"See you boys on Monday."

_To be continued..._


	3. A Normal Day

**A Normal Day...**

Note: Here, I try to attempt romance. If it seems cheesy to you, please forgive me. I'm a 13 year old male without a girlfriend, so read this with caution!

---------City Streets---------

After 10 years, you'd think Andross would've been caught by now. But no, he was still roaming the streets. Why? 'Cause no one knows what he looks like. The only picture they got of him is in black and white, and blurry. He was running away, and the photographer was a bit clumsy. So they had to base all their information on that one photo. Even then, Andross has changed a lot since that last photo.

What Andross really looks like is an old guy who's never heard of bathtubs. No one would ever suspect Andross, the criminal mastermind of the Lylat System, to be an old guy with a back problem. He was only 32, and he looks like a skinnier and a less jollier version of Santa Claus. Judging from this, it looked like no one would ever find him.

His idea of an everyday life style would be to steal food from absent-minded vendors. And there were a lot of those around this city. Hot dog, gone. Ice cream, gone. He was quick, but it was too easy.

Another routine he would do is to mooch off people. He'd set up this phony cardboard box as a home, put some old rags around him, and stuff his face in oil he siphoned from a gas station. Then he would start moaning and groaning in front of people walking by.

"Oh...I have no food or water...My stomach is killing me..." Yada fucking yada. It was pathetic, but it worked. People would give him anything that was in their hands. Money, food, you name it. He got so much money, he could buy a house and a car. Pathetic, but it worked.

---------McDonald's---------

James was sitting in a McDonald's, having lunch. A quarter pounder with cheese, or a royale with cheese if you're in Paris. All of a sudden, he sees a guy that looks like a possessed Santa Claus walk in, asking for a free cheeseburger. Sad. But for some reason, the nice clerk gives him one. What was up with that? People were just too nice in this city. Oh well, this guy looked poor, so he guessed it was a good thing to do.

He finished off the cheeseburger, then starts on his fries. Then he sees another person walk in. But it wasn't a possessed Santa Claus this time. It was the exact opposite. A female fox strolls in, and asks for a quarter pounder. James stared at her, in utter silence. He's never seen anyone so beautiful before. His heart was pounding so fast he couldn't breathe. He felt like howling like a wolf, which he almost did. But he quickly remembered he was in a public place.

Then a man comes up to her and hugs her. _Damn..._

---------The Police Station---------

Well, back to looking at the banks. Nothing going on so far. People withdrawing money, depositing money, same old crap. James just couldn't focus on the cameras.

_Oh man...she was something..._

"Jimmy!"

"Huh, what?" He snapped out of it. Armed robber, holding some people hostage.

"Come on, lets go!"

"Oh...ok..."

The three got into the police car, and drove off. Pigma and Peppy were in the front, while James was in the back. It would take about five minutes to get to the bank. Pigma started to tell a little story.

"Hey guys? Ever hear of the guy that robbed a bank with a telephone?"

Even James got his attention. "No. What happened?"

"Well, a guy comes into bank, right? Walks in with a cell phone. He gives the phone to the teller. A guy on the other end of the line says, 'We've got a little girl over here, and if you don't us all your money, we're going to kill her."

Peppy was baffled. "Well, did it work?"

"Fuck yeah, it worked! Can you believe that? Knucklehead comes into a bank with a cell phone! Not a pistol, not a shotgun, but a damn phone! Cleans the place out, doesn't even lift a damn finger."

"Did they hurt the little girl?"

"Nah, there probably wasn't even a little girl in the first place."

James couldn't help but smile, since he knew Pigma ripped that off from Pulp Fiction. Peppy, however, was howling with laughter. Pigma was amused at their reactions.

_10 minutes later..._

Well, that was easy. The robber clearly never used a weapon before, and shot himself in the leg. Pigma was taking him away in his car, while James and Peppy took another, since there was no room.

They got to the police station, put the robber behind bars, and the three of them were having a coffee break.

"Well, that was a cakewalk, wasn't it?"

"Yeah..." James still couldn't focus.

"Hey, are you sure you're okay? You've been this way since this lunch."

Then Pigma spoke up. "Oh, I know that look!" He winked, which was a sign that he knew what James was thinking about. "So Jimmy? Tell me about her."

Peppy looked confused, then finally caught on, smiling. "Yeah Jimmy, how is she?"

James couldn't find any ways to describe her. "She's just...I dunno..."

"Foxy?" They laughed.

"Well, yeah. But shes taken."

"Hmm. You sure it wasn't a relative?"

"Well, it was another fox. Not sure. But I don't think I'll see her again, I mean, it was at a McDonald's."

"Come on, don't be like that! Ever hear of fate?"

"Nah, I don't believe in fate. I just don't like the idea that I'm not in control of my life."

"Well, if this girl is as special as you say, I guarantee you'll see her again."

"Geez Pigma, when did you get so deep?"

"I dunno, couple minutes ago?" They laughed again, and got back to work.

_Maybe I will see her again..._

_To be continued..._


	4. The Date

**The "Date"**

Note: Thanks for not bashing me for all the terrible romance in the last chapter. But, I don't think you'll ever forgive me on this one...

---------Police Department---------

"_Please excuse the interuption. Will James McCloud please report to the Chief's office?"_

James was confused when he heard this. Why would the Chief be calling him? He reached the office and walked in. Chief Jacob Reinard was sitting in his chair. He was also a fox. He always had a cigar in his mouth and a bottle of whiskey on his desk. The guy had a bit of a weight problem too. "Ah James. Sit down."

James pulled up a chair next to his desk. "So uh...what do you need?"

"This might seem a bit strange to ask, but I need you to watch over my daughter."

James was even more confused. "What? Why?"

"Her boyfriend is going out of town. You see, he's an army man. He's killed almost all of our galaxy's crimelords, minus Andross."

_Damn, this guy's good. _"And?"

"Well, he's been hunted down multiple times. They try to set a bomb off where ever he is, they try gunning down his house, etc. His name's Jim Edwards."

Damn! This guy is one of the most famous people of the Lylat System. "So you're worried they might try it on your daughter."

"I'm worried sick! I could never forgive myself if she dies. So I need someone to watch over her. She doesn't mind the company."

"Alright, I'll do it. But why are you asking _me _this?"

"Well, you're the only fox in this police department. And she's kind of uncomfortable hanging around other species. Don't ask me why."

"Okay..."

"Alright, the address is 1764 Napa Suwe Ln. Be tomorrow at 6:00 p.m."

"Got it."

"Here's a picture of her, just in case you're curious. Her name is Vixy." He handed James a picture of a female fox. He couldn't believe his eyes! It was her, the woman he saw at McDonald's! Jeez, how lucky could he fucking get?

James went out to have a drink with Pigma and Peppy. They stopped by a bar, and got some beers.

"So, what did the Chief want you for?"

"He asked me to watch over his daughter..."

"Why?"

"Well, her boyfriend's Jim Edwards..."

Peppy's eyes widened. Pigma almost spit out his drink. "Goddamn! No wonder she needs security!"

"Yeah. But there's something else..."

"What?"

James paused for a moment. "It's her..."

Peppy and Pigma stared at him for a couple of seconds, before they started laughing hysterically.

"What? What's so funny?"

Pigma responded, trying to hold back his laugher. "See, this is the shit I was talking about, Jimmy! Fate! You fell in love with this woman, and now you're responsible for her safety!"

"Hey, she's fucking a guy who owns, like, three planets or something. What chance does a low class security guard have with her?"

Peppy stepped in. "Listen, it's not about quanity, it's about quality."

"Yeah, and I have neither of those."

"Hey, maybe something special might happen..." Pigma winked.

"Look, I'm not stupid. She's my boss's daughter. I'm just going to stand there by the door, have a conversation with her, laugh at her jokes, and then go home. I'll just stay out of her business."

"Whatever, man. But you just mark my words. You'll be feeling some sparks tomorrow. With luck, maybe she might too."

---------1764 Napa Suwe Ln.---------

_Well, here goes nothing..._James stood there, looking up at the house. This place was fucking huge!

He walked up to the front door, and was about to knock, but then he saw a note...

_Hey James! Come on inside. I'll be down in a minute._

"Okay then..." James opened up the front door and walked in. Wow, Jim Edwards got it good. There were famous paintings around each wall, a huge fireplace and a bar. There was even a vault door with who know's how much money is in there. Man, what has this guy been up to?

"_Hey there..."_

"What the..." James thought he heard someone speak. "H-hello?"

"_I'm on the intercom, James."_

"...Where's the intercom?"

"_You're getting close to it..."_

James walked around trying to find it.

"_Warmer...warmer...a bit cold...you're looking right at it."_

James tried talking into it. "Hello?"

"_Push the red button if you want to talk into it."_

James pushed it. "H-hello?"

"_I'll be right down, Jimmy. Make yourself a drink if you want to."_

"Um, okay."

"_You forgot to the button."_

James pushed it. "Um, okay." He walked away, wondering if this Pulp Fiction scene was a strange coincidence or completely intentional. He went to the bar and poured himself a glass of wine. Just by her voice, he was liking her already. _Remember Jimmy, she's taken. Don't try anything with her..._

He saw her come in. "Hello..." James got so nervous, he spilled his wine. _Damn! _He winced, waiting for some kind of anger. But she just smiled.

"Don't worry about it. This place never gets dirty."

"Oh, uh...okay." He sighed, feeling like a goddamn idiot.

She sat down on the couch. "Why don't you have a seat?"

"Okay..." He sat down opposite to her.

"So Jimmy...you mind if I call you that?"

"Sure."

"Great. So, why don't take this time to get to know each other? What do you do at the police station?"

James felt too embarrassed to say it. "Well..."

"It's alright, you can tell me..."

"I, uh...am a security guard that watches over...banks."

She grinned. "Wasn't that hard, was it?" He smiled weakly.

"Well, it's just not as, you know..."

"Impressive? Don't worry about it. I mean, I work at a run-down diner..."

James was shocked. "Wow...r-really?"

"Yeah. I didn't pay shit for all this, it was all Jim." She giggled a little.

"Wow, sorry..." _Man, I thought I had it bad..._

"It's alright. So anyway, you have a girlfriend?"

"Uh, no."

"Well, is there anyone that catches your attention?"

"Um..." _Oh geez... _"Yes..." _What the FUCK am I doing!_

"Who?"

"Well, you wouldn't know her..."

"Okay." _Phew!_

They talked for a few more hours. James was practically out of breath by now. And it wasn't because

he talked too much either...

"Well, um...it's 12:25. I guess I should be heading home..."

"Okay. See you around."

"Yeah..." He took one more sip of wine, said good-bye, and headed out the door. He felt like fainting.

---------The Police Department---------

"You know, I think I'm going to end up marrying this woman."

"Really? After one night?"

James was talking about last night to Peppy and Pigma.

"What? Anything's possible, right?"

"Sure...what have you done with the other Jimmy McCloud we were talking to yesterday?"

"Yeah, the one who kept talking about how he was going to 'stay out of her business?'"

James smiled. "That guy's gone."

Peppy grinned. "And good riddence!"

_To be continued..._


	5. The Warehouse

**The Warehouse**

Seems the Chief was very happy with how James is doing. He was showing remarkable progress over the past few weeks. He was doing so well, that he promoted him. Example: He arrested 7 men all by himself in one day. James was _that_ good.

Peppy also got promoted for a fine job He arrested 5 men single handedly with no problem over the course of 2 days. That being said, he did get shot in the arm, leaving him out of work for about a few months. Pigma was already at the level they were at, so all three of them were in the same department. It's all good.

What's gotten into James?

You already know that answer.

---------Police Department---------

James was walking out of the Chief's office. He's just been given an assignment, and he was on his way to tell Pigma. He reached the lunch table and sat down.

"So, what's it going to be?" asked Pigma.

"Well last night, some criminals got away with stealing $10,000 worth of diamonds. Their orders were to give it to their gang leader at some hideout. But..."

"They don't know who their leader looks like?"

"Yep. We captured one of the crooks, who goes by the name of Nice Guy Eddie." _Copyrighted name from Reservoir Dogs, _he thought. "It looks like he was the one behind the operation. All he told us was where the hideout was. He ran away before we could get anymore out of him. So one of us has to impersonate the leader, and the other is responsible for keeping the real one busy in order to get those diamonds back."

"When do we do it?"

"Tonight."

_6:00 pm..._

The two cops were driving away to the address. James was responsible for impersonating the leader, and Pigma will be distracting the real one. For his job, James put on a cheap black worksuit. Not very convincing, but it'll do.

"Have you ever been on an undercover mission before?" asked James.

"Twice."

"How did they go?"

"One went smooth as buttocks, the other was worse than listening to Phil Collins."

"What happened?"

"Well..."

**BAM!**

"WHAT THE HELL!" James swerved the car to the side and got out. He hit a pig who was just walking by. Pigma went to check the body.

"He's alright, but he'll be unconscious for a while."

"Oh good!" James wiped his forehead, which was sweating like mad. "For a moment there..."

"Wait..." Pigma saw a piece of paper, which had some kind of address. He read it, and couldn't believe his eyes. "Sweet Jesus. James, you're not going to believe this..."

"What?" James took the piece of paper. "Wha... this is the same address we're going to!"

"Yep. This is their leader!"

"Oh my God! The Chief is going to fucking love this!" gasped James, hardly breathing.

"Well, let's get moving. We'll put the body in the trunk."

---------The Crook's Hideout---------

Pigma got out of the car, dressed in the gang leader's clothes. It even came with a name tag: Marcellus Wallace. _Pulp Fiction, _thought James, who was still wearing his worksuit, which looked nothing like the clothes Wallace was wearing. He was going to play a henchman instead.

The two walked up to the hideout; in this case, a warehouse. Marcellus (Pigma) knocked on the door, while James waited behind him. A human answered the door.

"Ah, Marcellus Wallace. We've been waiting for you sir..." The man seemed a little shy. In fact, the whole place seemed shaken up just by his presence. _This Marcellus Wallace must be some bad mother fucker,_ James thought, smiling at his own joke. "Please...sit down..."

Pigma walked in, with James following. "Who is this with you?"

"Oh, this is Ja...les...Jules! Yes, Jules Winnfield. He's my bodyguard." Pigma said. _My God! What is with all the Pulp Fiction characters? _ His accent was phony, but the men seemed intimidated enough.

"Oh, um, of course! Would you like to sit down?"

James nodded, slanting his eyebrows. This worked, as the man stepped back nervously. This whole operation was going very well so far.

"So...what are the names of your men?" Pigma asked. He figured this might help a little.

"Well, there are six of us. I'm Mr. Brown. That is Mr. White, Mr Blonde, Mr. Blue, Mr. Orange, and Mr. Pink."

James tried not to laugh. He decided to play along. "Why is he Mr. Pink?" he asked.

"He's a faggot, that's why."

"Hey!" Mr. Pink stood up. "I'm not a fag, it's just we couldn't pick our own colors!"

"Colors? These aren't your real names?"

"No, we were given these phony names to hide our identity. And I got Mr. Pink! I asked Nice Guy Eddie if we could change our names, but no! He said he has to!"

"Oh well, you're still a fag," said Mr. Blonde.

"I second that," said Mr. Blue. These guys got into an argument, which lasted a few minutes when all of a sudden...

"ENOUGH!" shouted Pigma. This shutted the whole place up. Even he was surprised he could get his voice that loud. "Now, where are the diamonds?"

Mr. Orange went into the bathroom, and came out with a large briefcase. He gave it to Mr. White, and he gave it to James. James opened the case up, just to make sure the diamonds were in there. Once he opened it up, he almost went blind! They were very shiny, even though there was barely any light in the warehouse. He closed it up, thinking he might lose his vision, realizing this was frightningly similar to Pulp Fiction. Either all these Quentin Tarantino references are a complete coincidence or somebody's been watching his movies one too many times. Then he and Pigma got up and headed for the door.

"Job well done, gentlemen," said James, as he walked out. As he closed the door, a fist went straight into his face! He fell, and looked up. The real Marcellus was awake, and had Pigma in a headlock. James took the briefcase and whacked the gang leader in the head. He was still conscious, but he fell to the floor. Pigma went inside the car, and James got into the backseat, gun ready. Pigma pressed a button, which revealed a police siren. They drove away, while Marcellus came out of the warehouse with all six crooks. They got into an SUV and started chasing our fellow cops.

_To be continued..._


	6. The Chase

**The Chase**

---------City Streets---------

Trying to avoid the heavy traffic, Pigma drove into an empty parking lot with the SUV following, fending each other off with gunfire. The "Reservoir Dogs" were catching up to them. James opened up the window and got his pistol out.

"Aim for the tires only!" shouted Pigma. "We don't want to kill anybody!"

"Yeah, but these guys do, so drive fast!" James shouted back. He then started firing at the tires, but it was one hell of a chore. He was sweating so much, his gun almost slipped out of his hands.

The "Dogs" put away their pistols. "What the hell are they doing?" asked Pigma.

"I think they ran out of ammo." Not for long. James saw them pulling out HUMONGOUS machine guns. "Oh shit, GET DOWN!"

The Dogs fired, shattering three windows and completely ruining the seats. It also destroyed the radio. Now they could not call for backup.

James returned fire, hitting the wheel but not the tire. The SUV sped up ahead of him. One crook stuck his arm out his window and threw something. James looked in horror as he realized what it was.

"Grenade!" Pigma swerved the car left just in time. The grenade blew up, taking out the rest of their windows and a door.

"Duck!"

"Wait, why?" James found out soon enough. Broken glass flew right into his faces causing excruciating pain. The area was covered in smoke, making it hard to see. It also didn't help that he had little pieces glass in their eyes. "Where are they?"

BAM! The SUV came out of nowhere and crashed into the backside of the police car. It almost caused James to be thrown out of the car, but luckily he grabbed a seatbelt strap before he could fall out. Looks like seat belts really do save lives after all. Pigma stopped the car briefly so James could climb back in. The Dogs did a U-turn, facing the police car. Then they drove full speed, straight towards them. They were going to crash into them head-on. Pigma had no time to get out of the way.

"Jimmy, this would be a really fucking good time to use that gun now!"

He leaned out of the door, and fired. "Yes, I got it!" This slowed the SUV down, giving Pigma time to drive away.

"Nice, Jimmy!" But the SUV was still driving fast. James reloaded and waited for the right moment to shoot. Which wasn't now, because they proceeded to make the car look like swiss cheese. Two tires were shot, making the car very hard to handle. Once they stopped to reload, James started shooting, hitting another tire. The SUV was starting to wobble a little bit, but it still stood it's ground. Then one crook (maybe Mr. Blonde) got some crazy idea to chuck as many bombs as they could at them. So he started to throw endless supplies of grenades, which Pigma easily dodged.

It seemed the other crooks thought Mr. Blonde was on drugs, because James could see them fighting over the grenades. These guys never seem to get along, do they? Then one of them made the mistake of slowing down the SUV. This gave James the chance to shoot both tires out. But this didn't matter anymore, because one buffoon dropped one of the grenades – and the pin was off!

"Pigma, step on it!" And before the Dogs could figure out what was going on, the grenade blew up. The SUV was sent flying into the air, and landed onto the concrete with a painfully loud CRUNCH. The gas tank lit up and the whole thing burst into flames. Pigma stopped the car and got out. James did the same, looking at the wreckage in amazement. _No way they could've survived that._

He looked around at the parking lot, also with sheer amazement. Smoke filled the air, and the smell of gunpowder and gasoline filled his nostrils. There were a couple of small craters around, and one of the cars parked there was completely destroyed. He shook some of the broken glass out of his hair and eyes, which surprisingly didn't hurt very much.

Pigma took a look inside the crushed SUV. The corpses were burning up into ashes, and it looked like no one survived. "Hey, one of them is breathing!" He broke down the car door and dragged the unconscious man out. "Well, all of them are dead, 'cept for this one."

James ran up to the SUV with a surprised look on his face. "Who is it?"

"Mr. Pink."

---------Hospital Room---------

James and Pigma were watching as a nurse was checking out Mr. Pink. He was hit in the head pretty badly, leaving an unsightly bump on his head. And the car setting on fire didn't help him out much, giving him some very bad burns on his back and his face. "How did this happen?" she asked.

"A grenade blew up right by their car. He's the only surviver," explained Pigma.

Just then, the Chief walked into the room. "How is he nurse?"

"He'll be fine."

James looked at the Chief. "Uh, sir?"

"Yes?"

"Well...um..."

He raised his hand. "It's alright son, it wasn't your fault. After all, they were the ones who dropped the grenade, right?"

"Yes sir."

"How are you two doing, by the way?"

"Oh, I'm fine."

"Good. Pigma?"

"I'm great Chief, don't worry."

"Do you have the diamonds?"

"Yes sir, they're right here," said James, holding up a now tattered up briefcase. He opened it up, and just as before, the thing lit up the whole room.

"Excellent, gentlemen. Well, besides this aftermath of that car chase you had, I'd say you two did an exceptional job."

"Thank you, sir," said Pigma.

"Oh, and James..."

"Yes sir?"

"I know this seems a little harsh, seeing that you aren't in such a good situation right now, but I was wondering. You think you can stop by my daughter's house to see how she's doing this weekend?"

James stared at the Chief, almost wanting to hug him. "Oh, I wouldn't mind that." He smiled.

Just then, they heard a moan, coming from Mr. Pink. "Oh good. Maybe we can get some answers out of him. That okay, nurse?"

"Go right ahead." She left the room. Mr. Pink opened up his eyes.

"Good morning, sunshine!" Pigma shouted right at his face.

"Hey calm down, Pigma," said the Chief. He walked up to the bed, looking at the patient. "Can you hear me? Better question: Can you talk?" Mr. Pink nodded.

"Okay, we need you to answer a couple of questions for us. And you might as well cooperate, since this isn't a great time or place to argue." Mr. Pink nodded again.

"Now, first things last. Who else was in your group?"

Mr. Pink sat up slowly. He opened up his mouth and tried to talk, which sounded more like a whisper. "I...I don't know...their real...names."

"What do you mean?"

"...I was only picked from some...random group of people to do the jo...b..."

"So, you didn't even know who they really were?" asked the Chief. Mr. Pink nodded slowly. "Okay, so what can you tell us?"

Mr. Pink sat up a bit. "Well..." His voice was a bit louder this time. "I know that Marcellus Wallace had another boss that none of us knew."

"What's his name?" asked James.

"I'm not sure...I think it started with an A."

"Who? Andross?" joked Pigma.

"Yeah, I think that was it..." This stopped everyone cold. Even the nurse froze. Mr. Pink looked around the room, confused. "What?"

The Chief got a stone cold look on his face. "Mr. Pink, do you know where he is!" he asked, practically yelling at the poor patient. Mr. Pink almost jumped out of the bed, in shock of the Chief's out-of-nowhere craziness.

"Uh...I don't know! I really don't know!"

"Well, can't you remember anything!"

"Um...wait," he paused. "I remember overhearing Marcellus talking to Eddie about...I think it was about Andross. I don't know. I do know where Eddie is hiding, but I don't think he'd stay there after he hears about what happened."

"Good enough! Where's the place?"

"Uh...409 Citrus Dr., I think. He's going by the name of Vincent Vega."

The Chief beamed. "Thank you, Mr. Pink..."

"Um, it's Marvin. Marvin Nash." _Sheesh. _If he a nickel for every Quentin Tarantino reference he heard this week...

"Thank you Mr. Nash, you've just earned your ticket home!" The Chief was so happy, he wouldn't care if this guy murdered 10 people. Well, this _is_ Andross we are talking about. He's the Lylat System's most wanted man. The man who's responsible for taking lives by the thousands. The man who's been in hiding for a decade. They had the first lead as to where he would be! Wouldn't you be happy?

Unfortunately, the capturing of Andross _could've_ happened tonight...if they knew he was right outside their window. Not only was Andross a maniacal genius, he was also very sneaky. This whole time, this interrogation was happening right before his eyes. He also had very strong ears, meaning he knew that he's been ratted out. Looks like he needed to call a few friends...

_To be continued..._


	7. The Shootout

**The Shootout**

---------409 Citrus Drive---------

_Noon time, the day after the car chase..._

Peppy healed from his wounds just fine, and he was on the job again. Right now, he was looking at a hotel from his car with a couple of inspectors in the back seat. This was the right address, so Peppy got out and started walking towards the entrance. The inspectors followed.

It was 12:00 pm, and Peppy was tired as hell. This job didn't seem like a warm welcome back either. His arm was healed, but he could barely move it. Right now, he wanted to be back in his bed. But the thought of capturing Andross kept him awake.

He entered the building and went up to the front desk. There was a woman there, minding her own business. She looked up, and suddenly got a very nervous look on her face.

"Ma'am? I'm looking for a 'Vincent Vega.' Is he still checked in?"

"Um...one moment please," said the lady, who then went to her computer in the back. Few minutes later, she went back to the front of the desk. "I'm sorry, but he checked out last night. He seemed to be in a rush."

Peppy looked dissatisfied. "What's the room number he was in?"

"Uh..." She checked her computer. "Room 303, sir." She handed Peppy a key card.

"Thank you. Gentlemen, let's go." Peppy led the way to an elevator and took it to the third level. They got out, and there was room 303. There was a maid there, who was about to start cleaning the room up. "Wait, stop! We need to check this room out first." The maid nodded, confused. The inspectors took the key card and inserted it into a slot. A little green dot flashed, and the doors opened.

The place was a mess! The bedsheets were all over the place, and there was ripped paper on the floor. There was spilled wine and beer on the table, and the bottles were shattered. This Nice Guy wasn't very organized.

"That lady was right. He _was _in a rush," said one inspector.

"No shit," said Peppy. He looked around the room, not seeing anything besides the mess. "Looks like there's nothing here."

"Wait..." Another inspector picked up an object from underneath the bed.

"What is it?"

"A cell phone," said the inspector.

"Great! See if there's any messages in there!"

The inspector flipped open the phone. He checked the message section. Sure enough, there was a voice message recorded. The inspector pressed play.

"_**Nice Guy, where are you? Meet me at the corner of Napa Suwe and Leeward. I have some...errands for you..." **_

The four stood silent. "Who was that?"

"I think...that was who we're looking for." More silence.

---------Police Department---------

That night, Peppy played the message for everyone to hear. There was that same deep voice, which sent chills through everyone's spine.

"Is that it?" asked the Chief.

"Yes sir. Looks like we have an idea of where he is. Problem is, we don't know when he's going to be there. Or if he's still there," said Peppy.

Pigma heard this message too. "What was that place again?"

"Corner of Napa Suwe and Leeward."

The Chief then realized something. "Napa Suwe? That's where my daughter lives!"

Peppy's heart stopped. "That's where James is right now!"

---------1764 Napa Suwe Ln.---------

"Well...how are you doing?"

James was as nervous as ever, as he was conversing with Vixy. She was laying down on the couch, covered in a pink blanket. _Boy oh boy... _Also, the song, "Let's Stay Together" by Al Green was playing in the background, which didn't help much.

"I'm fine. Thanks for dropping by here."

"Uh...no problem."

_I'm, I'm so in love with you  
Whatever you want to do  
Is alright with me..._

"No trouble for you, I hope?"

"Oh," he smiled weakly. "Not at all."

_...you make me feel, so brand new _

_And I want to spend my life with you..._

"Good. 'Cause to tell you the truth, I don't know why my dad's doing this." She frowned.

"I'm sure he's just a little over-protective for his 'little girl.'"

_...Let me, be the one you come running to  
I'll never be untrue  
Ooo baby..._

"I guess. But I'm not exactly his 'little girl' anymore."

"Of course not." He smiled again.

_Let's, let's stay together  
Loving you whether, whether  
Times are good or bad, happy or sad_

_Oooo oooo ooo ooo, yeah  
Whether times are good or bad, happy or sad..._

This music was driving him crazy, but he tried not to be bothered. He sat down on a chair beside the couch. He wanted to ask her a question. It was something that he's been confused about for awhile.

"Hey, Vixy?"

"Yes?"

"I was just wondering...Your dad told me that you were uncomfortable around other mammals. Why is that?"

Vixy's smile suddenly faded away. Her face was blank. Her eyes shifted somewhere else.

James looked at her with a worried look on his face. "Listen, if you don't want to talk about it..."

"No, that's fine. It's just that...I'll tell you some other time." She sighed, then focused her attention on the radio.

"Okay..." James sank into his chair, wondering what had happened to her. It must have been pretty bad. He felt bad for even asking.

"Um...are you okay? You seem a little uncomfortable..."

"Uh...it's this music. I just hate this kind of music."

"Oh. Okay, you can go ahead and change the station."

"Alright." He walked to the radio and started flipping through stations.

_Hooked on a feelin'_

_I'm high on believin'_

_That you're in love with me..._

Switch.

_Well, you don't know what we can find  
Why don't you come with me little girl  
On a magic carpet ride?_

Switch.

_It was a teenage wedding and the old folks wish 'em well_

_You could see that Pierre did truly love the mademoiselle_

_And now the young monsieur and madame have rung the chapel bell_

_"C'est la vie", say the old folks, it goes to show you never can tell..._

Switch. _What is with this radio!_

As James was flipping through the stations, he caught his eye on something outside the window. There were a couple of guys outside of the house. They didn't look quite friendly. One of them looked kind of familiar. He must of seen that guy at a McDonald's before or something. What were they doing here anyway?

He saw one of them pull out something out of his pocket, but he couldn't tell what it was in the darkness.

"What's wrong, James?" Vixy asked from her couch.

"Vixy, you expecting any visitors?" he asked, still looking out the window.

"Well, no. Besides you," she replied.

"Hmm..." This was strange. Now the men were walking toward the house. James started to get a little nervous, wondering what they were going to do.

As they walked, they happened to cross under a street lamp. That's when James finally realized what they were holding...

"Vixy, get down!" he yelled, as gunfire starting bursting through the windows! Bullets whizzed by his head, hitting everything in sight.

They started hitting the couches, hitting all of them. Vixy tumbled off hers, as pieces of cotton and cloth rained down onto her. She crawled behind the couch, covering her ears.

The vases exploded and the walls were peppered. The lights were shot, leaving them in darkness. James stumbled towards the bar. The bottles of wine shattered, spilling liquid all over him. He reached for the nearest bottle that wasn't broken, and ripped a piece of cloth from his jacket. He started wrapping it around the top of the bottle.

He looked over at Vixy, who was screaming her lungs out. Keeping the bottle tucked at his side, he ran over to an open door. He took out a cigarette lighter from his pocket and peaked out the side. There were about four of those guys outside with some small Uzi's. If he timed it right, he could...

_Splat! _James screamed in agony as his left ear exploded all over his face! He dropped the bottle and grasped the side of his head, feeling the blood spilling out. All the sound around him seemed to fade away. He couldn't hear anything. He backed up to a wall, not knowing what to do. He didn't know whether the gunmen were still firing. He couldn't look, he'd get killed that way! He hoped that Vixy was still okay.

His hearing was back... Yeah, it was! He couldn't hear anymore gunfire. But he heard them walking towards here... Trying to ignore the tremendous pain in his ear, he lit the top of the bottle. He jumped up, and threw the bottle as hard as he could out at the gunmen. It burst into flames right in front of them. Two of them ran, while the other two were engulfed in the fire. James watched as the corpses burned away.

He ran over to Vixy, who was crying hysterically. "Are you alright? Are you hit?"

Vixy looked up at James, tears rolling down her cheeks. She whispered. "No...I'm fine." She jumped up and embraced him. James got a tingling sensation in his stomach. She held him tightly for a few minutes then calmed down a bit and pulled away slightly, looking at the side of his head. "I'll...go get something for that." She ran and got a wet towel, placing it on what was left of his ear. It stung like hell, but he didn't mind.

_Half an hour later..._

James was sitting in an ambulance getting his ear checked. It was bandaged after a few minutes, and he jumped out the back. He walked over to the destroyed house, where Peppy, Pigma, the Chief and his daughter were standing. The Chief was hugging his daughter very tightly, as any father would do. He then looked over at James and smiled.

"James, I can't thank you enough!"

"It's alright sir. You've been thanking me ever since you got here." He smiled.

Peppy walked up to him. "You okay? Man, they grazed you pretty badly, didn't they?"

Pigma came up. "What were they shooting you for?"

"I don't know. Although I have an idea of who they were."

"I think you'd be right." Peppy took out the cell phone they found at the hotel. He pressed play and the message played.

"Andross. I knew it!" he exclaimed.

"Yep. He must have been trying to kill you, since you were there at the hospital last night. And he must have been trying to kill Vixy, to get back at the Chief," said Peppy.

"Wait, then maybe he'll try to kill you guys!"

"Then we have to be extra careful. Especially you, Chief," said Pigma.

"And James, you have to be careful too. No telling if he'll try that stunt on you again," said the Chief.

"I will be," said James. He looked over at Vixy, who was still looking quite petrified at what just happened. "You gonna be okay?"

"Yes. Don't worry about me," she said, smiling a bit.

"Okay. Well, I'll see you guys tomorrow. I'm just going to go home now and...have a heart attack."

_To be continued..._


	8. Searching and Planning

**Searching and Planning**

---------Abandoned City Streets---------

_11:00 pm, just after the shootout..._

A human and a falcon were running down some empty streets. They were carrying machine guns: Andross and Nice Guy Eddie Cabot. Andross was still the possessed Santa Claus I told you about in a previous chapter. Nice Guy had blue hair, and a bit of a weight problem. There wasn't really anything unique about this guy, besides the fact that he's a falcon.

"Man, who the hell was that guy?" asked Eddie.

"**Who?" **

"The guy who threw the cocktail! I want fuckin' to kill him!"

"**We were going to! But we didn't see that comin'! We were actually pretty fuckin' close. I blew his ear off."**

"Aah, it's just an ear. Who was he anyway?"

"**That was James McCloud. He's the same guy who took the diamonds. And that girl was the Chief's daughter. Her name was Vixy, I think."**

"Really? Why didn't we try to kill the Chief?"

"**Because, I wanted that fucker to feel somethin'. I wanted him to suffer, I wanted him to break down and cry like a little pussy about it."**

"Oh. So, we gunna try that again, or what?"

"**Nah. They'll be suspecting something. After that little mess, the Chief's going to have a fuckin' army watching over her. Hey, did you know that her boyfriend's Jim Edwards?"**

"_The _Jim Edwards? Shit, no wonder that house has all that nice crap."

"**_Had _all that nice crap. I'd like to see the look on his face when he sees his house all fucked up like that!" **He laughed hard, and as he did, Eddie could've sworn he heard an echo.

"So what _are _we gonna do?"

"**Dunno. I'd like to take care of someone before we move on..."**

---------An Alleyway---------

_7:00 am..._

"Wow, what a shame."

James, Peppy and Pigma looked down at the dead body. It was the body of Marvin Nash, or Mr. Pink. There were police around the scene of the crime, backing off civilians. No one would want to see this.

The body was in bad shape. Both his eyes were gone, and his stomach was split open. His arms were hacksawed, and his legs were sliced open. James almost puked at the sight. He also felt pretty sorry for this man. That must have been one hell of a torture. Now his missing ear didn't seem so bad compared to this.

"This had to be Andross," said James. "We'd better search this man's house."

"I'll get some people on it right away," said Peppy.

"I'll go inform the Chief," said Pigma.

---------Mr. Pink's House---------

_8 hours earlier..._

Marvin Nash, bloodied and black-eyed, was tied to a chair in his basement, not knowing what the hell was going on. 30 minutes ago, Eddie and Andross broke into his house, and started beating the crap out of him. Then they just tied him to this chair and duck taped his mouth. Did they find out that he squealed on them? That had to be it.

He saw Andross and Nice Guy walking down the stairs, with a few _items _in their hands. Nice Guy was holding a power drill and a pistol, and Andross was holding a hacksaw and a meat cleaver. Marvin looked in horror, knowing he was going to be tortured. He tried to get out, trying to undo the knots on his hands. But Nice Guy ran up and pointed the pistol right between his eyes. "Oh, you're not going anywhere."

Andross set down the objects on the floor. He picked up a roll of duck tape. "**We're doin' this, because you squealed on us. When somebody fucking squeals on me, that shit pisses me off. Now, there's no way you can talk yourself out of this one. We're not doin' this for any fuckin' information. I don't care what you know. We're doin' this, 'cause it amuses us when we see a helpless man suffer." **He rolled the tape over Marvin, blinding him from what they were going to do. "**So you just sit back, and wish for a quick death, which you are not going to get..."**

_8:00 am..._

An inspector kicked down the door of the house. There was nothing there. Nothing except for a couple of flipped over furniture. "Check the place! Search everywhere a rat could go!" Two other inspectors ran in. One went upstairs, one down in the basement.

The one in the basement saw one sickening sight. A power drill, a hacksaw, and a meat cleaver were laying there on the floor, covered in blood. A chair drenched with the red stuff sat there, and surrounding it were many severed body parts. It seemed strange that they would leave such evidence like this. "Hey guys, you have to see this!"

"One minute!" yelled the inspector from upstairs. He hasn't had any luck yet up here. But he heard a strange beeping sound coming from inside the door on the right of him. He approached the door slowly and gently pushed it open, revealing a bedroom. The beeping sound grew louder. It came from above him, so he looked up. He saw a white object stuck on the ceiling with a red light blinking. It stopped beeping, and so did the inspector's heart...

Civilians looked in awe and fright as they saw a suburban home swallowed into flames. Innocent bystanders were caught in the fire, and their corpses burned away. People screamed and ran, not knowing what the hell was going on...

---------Police Station---------

_Same time..._

"_Will James McCloud please report to the Chief's office?" _called the intercom.

James walked into the Chief's office, unexpecting of the person he was about to meet. There was a tall male fox in full uniform standing right by the Chief's desk. He had a pistol strapped to his waist and his muscles were almost bulging out. What made this character interesting were the pair of sunglasses he was wearing. Once James looked at him, these were the first thing that caught his eye. This was Jim Edwards.

"Ah, James! There's someone I want you to meet."

"Oh, I know who this is," said James. The fox came up to him and held out his hand.

"I'm Jim Edwards. Nice to meet you, James." His voice was very deep, yet very calm.

"Honor to meet you, sir." He took his hand and shook it. This man had one powerful grip. James felt his arm might've broken off.

"So, I heard you did one hell of a job last night. It shows too." He pointed at James's bandaged ear.

"Aah, it's just an ear," he said, smiling.

"Nevertheless, that took balls to throw that cocktail. I'm very thankful, as is the Chief, that you saved Vixy's life."

James looked down on the floor. "You're welcome, sir."

"Please, call me Jim." He smiled.

All of a sudden, a police officer came running into the room, out of breath and looking like he's just seen an explosion. "We have a serious problem, sir!"

---------Suburbia---------

All hell was breaking loose, as civilians ran away from the fire. The fire department showed up and started spraying water over the burning house. The fire calmed down, and a group of firemen got closer to the damage. There wasn't much left; the whole house was reduced to a pile of rubble and soot. James looked at the remains in shock. _First a shootout, and now this? I'm gonna need some therapy after this._

Peppy ran up to the house, with a sad look on his face. "Oh man. I shouldn't have sent those guys down here..."

"Hey, just be glad we weren't here," said Pigma. He looked down at the damage. "A bomb, I'm guessing?"

"Andross's bomb," said James.

"Well, no shit. Of all the things he could've done to get rid of any clues, he bombs the place. What should we do now?"

"I don't know. I-I just don't know," said James.

The Chief walked up to the three of them, looking at the rubble as well. "This situation is getting out of hand. Too dangerous for the local police."

"Well, what can we do?" asked Peppy.

"Nothing. We do nothing, until the right time comes."

---------Alleyway---------

Andross and Nice Guy were in their empty alleyway, conversing a plan. Andross was smoking a marijuana cigarette; Nice Guy was sniffing away on coke.

"You know, we shouldn't waste all this shit. We can sell this stuff, you know. For money?"

"**When we're through with this city, we won't need money."**

"What do you mean?"

Andross put out his cigarette and started rolling up another. "**Do you still have partners in the outer planets?"**

"Yeah, I have plenty. Why?"

"**Do they have weapons?"**

"Well, I'm sure they do, but..." Nice Guy paused, seeing where this was going. "Fuck, you're not going to..."

Andross only nodded.

"But...this is the fucking Cornerian Army you're talking about! How are you gonna fight _them?"_

"**_We're _not going to. _They _will. How are their armies?"**

"Um, I'd say they and the Cornerian Army are pretty evenly matched, but why would _they _fight for us?"

"**I have my ways..." **He pulled out a large black object out of his bag. Nice Guy stared at it.

"What is it?"

"**It's a bomb..."**

"Man, you have a thing for bombs, don't you?"

"**They do the job. This here is a prototype of a new 'nova' bomb I'm working on."**

Nice Guy seemed interested. "Go on."

"**This bomb can wipe out an entire city, much like a nuclear bomb. Once dropped, it'll burst into flames, sending the unfortunate city to hell." **He smiled viciously.

"So what are we going to do with it? Drop it on Corneria?"

"**No." **Nice Guy looked confused. "**See, I'm not even close to finishing this thing. It'll take me _years _just to get _one _bomb done, I'm guessing. So, I'm going to have you tell them about a superbomb that Corneria is working on. If they don't believe you, show them this." **He held up the bomb. "**I'm sure they'll be happy to oblige. This will buy me time to work on this bomb, and after that, good bye Corneria."**

Nice Guy was hooked on now. "Sounds good! But, I have one question. What do you have against Corneria anyway?"

Andross's smile faded. "**What do I have against them? I tell you. How do you think it feels to be the most hated person in Corneria? How would you like to be living in the fucking streets all day, asking people for cash? This city deserves it."**

"Hmm, sounds harsh. Okay, I'll do it. I'll call up my partners tomorrow, and work something out."

"**Excellent..."**

_To be continued..._


	9. Persuasion and Invasion

**Persuasion and Invasion**

---------Planet Fichina---------

Fichina was a ghastly place, filled with snow and ice 24/7. But somehow, people still found ways to adapt to the unbearable weather. For some reason, they seemed to _like _the coldness. No one's ever found out why. Anyway, back to the story.

A space cruiser flew onto the planet and landed on a runway. A platform from beneath opened up, and Nice Guy Eddie walked out with Andross trailing him. He was carrying a large bag. From a small hut in front of them, a group of people walked out to greet them. A human walked up. "Welcome to Fichina. How may I be of service to you?"

Nice Guy walked up to him. "I'm looking for 'Horse Hung Harry.' Tell him Nice Guy Eddie is here." The man seemed to understand, and simply bowed and walked away.

"**Horse Hung Harry?" **asked Andross, who found this name very amusing.

"Harry Caroso's the leader of this colony here. He was always a real fuck-machine," Nice Guy started to explain. "He proved it by betting he could get a random girl to sleep with him in 5 minutes. So he picked up some chick walking by, and got her to go up to his room somehow. She ended up marrying him. Oh, here he comes now."

A tall, thin panther came into view. His fur was black, and his jacket had a red rose imprinted onto it. "Oh, Nice Guy! What are you doin' here? Who is this with you?" He shook Nice Guy's hand.

"This here is Andross Oikonny," said Nice Guy.

"Ooh, the big man himself! You stirred up the Lylat System quite a bit with all those crazy experiments you made," he said, shaking Andross's hand.

"**Yes, well I'm about to stir them up a bit more." **He smiled.

"Well, why don't you guys come on in?" He led them to a mansion not far away from where they were before. This house seemed really out-of-place in this desert of snow, for a king could've been mistaken to have been living here. It was 4 stories tall, and was painted red and gold. The inside of the house was even better. Harry had a collection of many fine furniture. He had many art pieces, including pottery and paintings; many of them having to do with roses. This man was loaded with cash.

Harry settled down onto a red couch, while Nice Guy and Andross sat down on some plain looking couches across from him. He pulled out a silver case from out of his pocket and opened it. "Cigar?" Andross and Nice Guy nodded, taking one for each out of the case. Harry took out a lighter and lit both of theirs and his own. "So, what are you here for?"

"We're here to tell you about Corneria," said Nice Guy, blowing out smoke.

"Well, what about it? It seems like an okay planet."

"It seems they have gone off the deep end. Harry, I'm sorry to tell you this: They want to wipe out this planet."

Harry looked dumbfounded. "What? How do you know this?"

Nice Guy took the cigar from his mouth to speak more clearly. "I snuck into an army base to see what they were up to. And I overheard them talking about how much this place was a disgrace to the Lylat System. They said something about a 'super bomb' they were working on."

"Wait a second...how and why did _you_ sneak into the base?"

"Hey, come on. You know me. Besides, I borrowed some of Andross's toys to help me out a bit. As for why, Andross wanted me to see what they were doing. You know the grudge he has against Corneria," he said, with a smooth delivery. You couldn't tell if he was lying, no matter who you were.

"I can't believe this! Did you see the bomb?"

"See it? I stole a prototype!" He nodded at Andross, and he pulled out the prototype out of the bag. He handed it to Harry, who almost swallowed his cigar.

"Oh my fucking god. What can this thing do?"

This is where Andross stepped in. **"I analyzed that thing, and I found out some disturbing info. Once they're finished with the final product, this bomb will do unspeakable damage." **He then explained what the bomb could do in the exact same way he explained it to Nice Guy earlier. Harry was wide-eyed this whole time. After Andross was done, Harry just stood silent. Then, after a few moments of this silence, he all of a sudden exploded into a rampage.

"Who the FUCK do those guys think they are!" he screamed jumping up from his couch. "We stayed neutral all this time, and then they just decide, out of the fucking blue, to screw us over! What kind of sick fuckers are they?" He then dropped onto his couch, breathing heavily. He didn't notice, but Nice Guy and (especially) Andross were enjoying this little outburst. His rampage finally calmed down, just as quickly and suddenly as it started. "When are they going to be finished?"

"**In a few years, I'm guessing," **said Andross. **"But, if I were you, I wouldn't give them that chance."**

Harry nodded. "Okay. I'll see what I can do."

"Good," said Nice Guy. "Well then, we'll be going now. We're going to warn our partners as well."

"What? They're going to hit other places too?" Nice Guy nodded. "Oh man, those fuckers are going down!"

Andross smiled. **"We'll be calling you, to give you some more information on this."**

Harry nodded again. "I appreciate it. Thank you for bringing this to my attention."

"No problem," said Nice Guy, walking out the door. Andross followed, grinning.

"**Next stop: Zoness."**

---------The Lylat System---------

Andross and Nice Guy spent the week warning their partners about Corneria's "plans." Nice Guy had a total of five partners in the Lylat System, including Horse Hung Harry. All the planets they went to were as follows, with their respective leader, and in no particular order: Zoness (Fudge Boy), Titania (The One Eyed Ogre), Macbeth (Fancy Pants), and Katina (One Nut). And they all had the same reaction as Harry did. Andross's plan was going smooth as silk.

I should also explain how these men got those ridiculous nicknames. William Black, AKA Fudge Boy, was a rabbit could not stop eating chocolate when he was a kid. Now, he weighs 450 lbs.

Sanford Powalski, AKA The One Eyed Ogre, wasn't a very bright chameleon. One time, he couldn't find a screwdriver to fix a screw on his glasses, so he tried using a knife while still wearing them. (Don't ask me why.) He ended up stabbing his eye out.

Grant O'Donnell, AKA Fancy Pants, was one rich wolf. He once stole $27 million from 4 different banks, and none of them have ever caught him. He was probably the smarter one out of the bunch.

Bruce Brodie, AKA One Nut, was a hamster who once got shot in the sack. Need I say more?

---------Corneria---------

_A month later..._

James walked down the streets, taking a rest from police work. His ear was better, despite the fact it looked as though somebody bit it off. It was a very beautiful day here in the city. They haven't heard a peep from Andross this past month. It was also strangely quiet around here. No major crimes were happening at all. Just a few minor robberies, that's all. So James considered this a well deserved break from all the chaos last month. He could finally have a good night's sleep.

He stopped at a vendor, and bought a hot dog. And before he could start chomping down on it, his eye caught something in the distance. He saw a group of ships flying down towards the city. A couple of other people saw this too. They murmured to each other, not knowing what these guys were doing. James all of a sudden had a bad feeling something was going to happen.

All of a sudden, a loud explosion was heard! A building caught on fire and toppled into another building! They both collapsed onto the streets. Helpless civilians were crushed, as people ran away screaming in terror. James looked in horror as the ships fired at multiple buildings, blasting them to smithereens. Metal and rocks rained down onto the mob of screaming people, killing most of them.

James ran as fast as he could away from the carnage, with hundreds of other people doing the same. They were pushing each other out of the way, knocking some people down on the street. A couple of ships flew in, firing at them. A man behind James exploded in blood, and countless others fell onto the ground, blood pouring out of their stomachs. He ran faster, not caring where he was going...

---------Cornerian Army Naval Base---------

Corporal Robert Pepper ran into the armory, strapping on his gear. He was a bloodhound dog in his late 30's, and he was on the verge of becoming a Sergeant. He weighed about 180 lb and stood about 6'1''. He was in exceptional shape, but compared to Jim Edwards, he was a dead chuwawaa. Nevertheless, he showed great strength whenever in a fight, and was in a great mood no matter what the situation.

His gear was on in a matter of minutes, and he ran out of the armory and into the hangar bay. Hundreds of ships (Q-Wings) were docked there, and soldiers were starting to take off. He saw Captain Jim Edwards there, and walked up to him. The Captain's squad was there as well. They circled around Edwards, as Pepper ran up to the group. This squad was specialized in both the air and the ground.

"What took ya?" asked Lieutenant Jack Lombardi, a falcon.

"Doesn't matter," said Pepper, putting a stick of gum into his mouth. "What's going on?"

"Five planets are invading us for whatever reason," said Sergeant Tom Grey, a dog. "Looks like they don't like what we're doing."

Pepper looked confused. "That doesn't make any sense. Whose ships are those?"

"The Research Director for the Cornerian Defense Forces (Beltino Toad) scanned those ships, and he said that they came from Fichina, Titania, Zoness, Katina, and Macbeth," said the Lieutenant.

Pepper looked even more confused. "What's the plan?"

"We ain't got a plan," said the Captain. "These guys caught us with our pants down."

"So what do we do?"

"Half of us is going to join the rest of the air force to fight off those attacking ships. The rest of us is going to watch the ground, in case they try to attack here."

---------City Streets – Or what was left of it---------

Piles of rocks and metal filled the streets. Dead bodies laid on the sidewalks. Buildings continued to collapse, and destroyed cars blocked the roads. The once beautiful day turned into a living hell.

James continued to run nonstop. People behind him were shoving each other out of the way. Some fell to the ground, so tired and exhausted. The others stepped on them carelessly. It was a riot throughout the city.

He saw Peppy ahead of the crowd running his ass off. He tried calling out his name, but it was drowned out by the screaming crowd. He ran towards him, pushing through dozens of people. He yelled out his name, and Peppy turned around. James caught up to him. "Hey, you alright?"

"Yeah, I'm fine! What the hell is going on?"

"No idea! Question is, what the hell do we do?"

"We can't do much else but run! Wait, look up there!"

A loud roar zoomed past them, as the air force flew into the scene. They opened fire at their opponents. The invaders returned fire. The air force then charged towards their enemies, with the enemies doing the same. They collided in the air, fighting each other off. A flaming ship fell from the battle, and crashed into the ground. People ran from the streets, covering themselves behind the wreckage around them. James and Peppy did the same.

They saw Pigma running for cover, and called out his name. He saw them, and ran to their hiding spot. "Hey, you guys okay?"

"We're fine! You?"

"Great, except for the fact that we're being attacked! What the hell do we do?"

"Don't know!"

Just then, they saw multiple anthropomorphic animals wearing white descending from the their ships. They fired at the helpless civilians with no mercy. Blood splattered onto the street, as they fell to the ground. James looked over the pile of rubble, and saw the terrorists. They had the Fichina symbol on their uniforms (Which was a frozen polar bear). He was confused. Why would Fichina be attacking?

Then he saw more terrorists coming from above. They all came from different planets, judging from their uniform colors. The symbols on their uniforms were from Zoness (A rotten apple), Titania (An orange sun), Macbeth (A giant boulder), and Katina (They had no symbol, but they wore an orange patch). He was now even more confused. Corneria never did anything wrong to those planets, so why were they attacking them?

The terrorists continued to fire upon the civilians, when all of a sudden a group of army men surprise-attacked them. They fell to the ground, not expecting this. James looked up at the group of army men. One of these men was Captain Jim Edwards.

"Men, let's get these people to safety. Sarge, escort those people over to the underground shelter. Take Johnson, Mellish, and Caparzo with you. Lieutenant, get those people. Rieben, Jackson, and Ryan, go with him." His eye caught on James. "Hey, are you okay?"

James got up, looking at the Captain. "Yes, sir. What's happening here?"

"No time for that now. Corporal, take these three and that group of people, and escort them to the underground shelter. MacDonald, Hamill, and Monroe will go with you."

"Yes sir!" said the Corporal. "Where are you going, sir?"

"I'm taking the rest of the squad and we're going to fight off these nut jobs." The Corporal nodded, and the Captain walked off to join the rest of the squad.

"Okay people, I'm Cpl. Pepper. Follow me, and try not to fall behind. Hamill, you come up here with me. MacDonald, cover behind. And Monroe, cover the sides. Let's go, people!"

He power walked to the side of a building, with Pvt. Fred Hamill (A bulldog) following. The people followed, looking nervously at each other. Pvt. Elais MacDonald (An avian) walked backwards, looking for anything coming from behind. Pvt. Martin Monroe (A feline) motioned the people to get up towards the wall. They obeyed, looking confused. Cpl. Pepper stayed at the side.

"What's wrong, sir?" asked Hamill.

"I have a distinct feeling that there's something on the other side of this building."

"Here, use this." He took out a pocket mirror, and handed it to Pepper. Pepper took out the gum he was chewing on and stuck it on his combat knife. He took the mirror, stuck it on the gum, and held it slightly out of the corner. The mirror reflected two men with machine guns stationed at the top of a building looking down on them.

"Damn! They got heavy weapons," said Pepper to the rest of the squad.

"So let's take another path."

"We can't. Any other path would take us hours to get to the shelter. We just need to get across the street."

"Well, we can't go against machine guns!"

Pepper took another look at the corner. "That crater over there could be a perfect defilade position if anyone could get to it."

"I'll do it," said Monroe, holding up his sniper rifle.

"Okay. Wait until I tell you to go," said Pepper, with Monroe going in front of him. MacDonald walked up to the corner, pulling his gun out. "Covering fire!" yelled Pepper, firing at the machine guns. The other Privates did the same. The machine guns returned fire, aiming their guns at the corner. "Go!" yelled Pepper, as Monroe ran towards the crater. The enemies noticed him, and tried to fire at his feet. But he was too fast for them.

Monroe jumped into the crater, lining up his sniper rifle. He aimed the gun right at the enemy's head. He fired with a direct hit. The enemy's head exploded, startling his partner next to him. He started to fire blindly, barely missing the crater. Monroe fired again, hitting the enemy in the chest. His stomach squirted blood, as he fell off the building. His body shattered onto the ground.

"Go, go!" shouted Pepper, as he lead the group across the street. Monroe followed, reloading his rifle. The civilians ran, some of them crying. James picked up one lady who collapsed from exhaustion. He looked up at the battle happening in the sky. The clouds were covered in gray smoke, and trails of fire leaped across the sky.

"Come on, let's move!" shouted Hamill. "Those ships are going down!" All of a sudden, hunks of metal that used to be ships fell from the sky, like meteors. They crashed all around the group, startling the civilians. Pepper motioned them to the go left. They were almost there.

After a while, they finally reached their destination. It was a subway station, with dozens of people running inside. James sighed in relief. Peppy wiped the sweat off his head. Pigma almost fainted. 

"Come on, let's get inside!" yelled Pepper, helping them inside. "Here, I'll take her," he said to James, picking up the woman. James ran inside, with Peppy and Pigma following, and joined the thousands of others down there. People were having spasms everywhere, and children cried out in fear. James sat down on the floor, exhausted. He looked up at the ceiling, hearing multiple explosions from above. He hoped that the soldiers above would make it out alright.

_To be continued..._


	10. Aftermath

**Aftermath**

---------Corneria---------

_The next morning..._

James could not believe his eyes, as he looked at the city. Almost all the buildings were completely destroyed, and the streets were covered in craters. Huge clouds of black smoke filled the sky, and fire surrounded the city. Corneria City was reduced to a wasteland.

People screamed at the sight, and some fell to the ground and cried. Who would do such a thing, they all thought.

---------Cornerian Army Naval Base---------

Surprisingly, the naval base was still intact.

"We've just received a message from five planets, sir."

"Show me," said General Bud Miller, a human. He was in his early 50's, and has been a general for five years.

The computer operator showed the message on the view screen for everyone to see.

_Corneria:_

_We know what you are creating._

_We will not stand for this._

_If you do not stop the produvtion of this super bomb, _

_we will go to war._

_Do not let it come to that._

_Negotiations will take place tomorrow._

_Zoness, Titania, Fichina, Katina, and Macbeth_

People gaped at the view screen. They had no idea what they were talking about. They weren't creating any 'super bomb.' Nothing is in production at all. What is going on, they thought.

"What the hell do they mean by that, sir?" asked the Captain.

"No idea," replied the General. "I think somebody set us up."

"Andross. It's gotta be him."

The General sighed. "They will not take that answer."

"So what do we say to them? You know, we can lie about the bomb and say that it's been destroyed or something," suggested the Lieutenant.

"But what if they find out?" asked the Captain. "We'll be in a real bad situation there."

"This is a crisis. I do not want to go to war. But if they attack us, we will fight back."

---------Corneria---------

James saw Vixy sulking around the streets. He ran up to her. "Are you alright?"

"Yes, I'm fine," she said, managing to smile a little. "What happened?"

"No idea. Where's your dad? I gotta talk to him."

"He's at the hospital." She fell silent, and a tear glistened on her cheek.

"What is it?"

"He's...hurt bad," she said. "I don't know what happened, but he's in real pain."

James's heart sank, as he made a break for the hospital. Vixy followed, trying to convince herself that her father was still alright. They reached the hospital, which was still intact. They bursted through the door, and asked for Chief Reinard. Room 109, the nurse said. James ran through the hallway, Vixy behind him. They reached the door and went inside.

Vixy gasped at her father. He was unconscious and his whole body was bleeding excessively. "What happened?" asked James.

"He's been shot by one of those men," replied the nurse. "I'll, um, leave you three." She walked out, knowing what was going to happen.

Vixy walked up to her father, tears streaming down her cheeks. She kneeled down on the floor. The Chief's eyes opened up slightly. He smiled weakly. "V...Vixy..." he whispered. Vixy tried to smile, but couldn't. James watched, feeling pity for her. "I...don't think I'm... going to make it..."

"No...please don't...please don't go..." Vixy moaned. She layed her arms around her father. He rubbed her back, trying to calm her down.

"Don't worry about me..." he said, his voice getting raspy. "I'm just...glad that you're...okay. That's all...that matters...to me now..." He looked over at James, motioning him to come over. He walked over to the bed. "James...remember how...I told you to do...nothing until the right time comes?" James nodded. "I think...this is the right time..."

"Sir..." But before James could say anything else, the Chief's heartbeat flatlined. Vixy whimpered and continued to hug her father. James could not believe it. He looked down, not believing what was happening. He walked over to Vixy, and comforted her. They stayed there for a while.

---------City Streets---------

Peppy and Pigma were looking for James, when they saw him walking away from the hospital. "Hey James, what happened?" asked Pigma. James was silent for a while.

"James, what's wrong?" asked Peppy.

He told them. They were silent for a while. Peppy sighed. Pigma closed his eyes for a little bit. Then they saw Jim Edwards walking down the sidewalks. James walked up to him.

"You alright?" asked Jim.

"Yeah," lied James. He sighed, then said, "The Chief's dead."

"Yes, I know," said Jim, with a blank look on his face. "Where's Vixy?"

"She's at the hospital. She just wanted to stay there a little longer."

Jim sighed. "My God, this is bad. You know that we have five planets wanting to go to war with us?"

"What for?" asked Pigma.

"They think that we are creating some kind of super bomb to use against them. Well, we're not."

"Think we've been set up?" asked Peppy.

"My thoughts exactly. But they won't believe that."

"Sir? Do you think we'll really go to war?"

Jim was silent for a while. Finally, he said, "Yes. But I hope I'm wrong."

---------Cornerian Army Naval Base---------

_The next day..._

"Put them on the view screen," said the General. The view screen split into sections, showing five anthropomorphic animals from all five planets. Their names (not nicknames) were shown at the bottom of their given section. "What do you want?"

"We want you to knock some sense into those little pieces of shit you call brains!" shouted Harry Caroso.

"What he said," said William Black. "There is no sense in your plan to bomb all of us."

"I tell you, we are not producing any of these 'super bombs' you speak of," said the General. "This has all been a lie."

Bruce Brodie shook his head. "Oh, sure it is..." He held up the bomb that Andross had created (unknown to them).

General Miller was shocked. He had no idea this thing even existed. "And where did you get that from?"

"From a friend of ours. We know it's from you, because of this." The camera zoomed up to the bomb, and there was the General's signature.

By this time, everybody was confused. They knew that they weren't making anything like this at all, but how the fuck did the General's signature get on there?

"I'm telling you, this is all a lie," said the General, very nervously.

"Your persuasion isn't working, General Miller," said Grant O'Donnell. "We want to avoid war as much as you do, but we have no choice."

The view screen switched off. The General wiped the sweat off his forehead and sighed. "Sir? What do we do now?" asked the Captain.

He sighed once more, then responded: "Begin drafting an army."

_To be continued..._


	11. Training

**Training**

---------Apartment #207---------

After attending the wake for Chief Jacob Reinard, James flopped down onto his couch and started reading his mail. He was tired, and looking at the bills didn't make him any better. Then he came across a letter from the Cornerian Army. Right away, he ripped it open, and took out two pieces of paper. One was a letter, another was a registration form. He was being asked to join the army.

At first, he looked at the form with not much thought. Shit, he didn't have to join if he didn't want to. He tossed it onto the table in front of him and switched on the T.V. Then he thought of what the Chief told him just before he died. "This is the right time." Was that what he meant? Would the Chief really have wanted him to join?

He picked up the form, looking at the questions. He took out a pen and wrote down his signature at the bottom...

---------Eladard---------

This is a planet that you've probably never heard of. It was an Industrial center covered with numerous factories and cities. Perfect for establishing a base of operations (not to mention mass production of weaponry)

A space cruiser landed onto a platform, and Andross, Nice Guy Eddie, and their partners stepped out. The president of Eladard, Caiman Boyd, walked up to greet them. He was a human in his 50's. "Ah, you must be Andross! Heard much about _you, _of course!"

"Yes, um...Anyway, is the building ready?"

"Everything is now at your disposal, my good sir," he said with a smile.

"Good. Will you show us the way?"

---------Training Center #3---------

_Months later..._

It was official. They've just heard news that the planets Zoness, Titania, and Fichina were declaring war. No news from the other two planets. From what James has heard, about 900 million people from all over the planet drafted into the army. This is an okay number, but the fact that they were facing five planets all on their own made it insufficient. Still, it was pretty impressive and they would not lose this war easily.

James, Peppy, and Pigma were standing around with hundreds of other people in the training center. The place was huge, and had enough room for everyone to train at the same time. And the fact that there were nine other training centers the same as this one in the city alone boggled his mind.

Two Commissioned Officers and an Enlisted soldier strolled into the room. _Major _Edwards walked out in front of the crowd of people, along with Lieutenant Lombardi and _Sergeant_ Pepper (The Beatles, anyone?). Tom Grey was seriously injured during the invasion, and could not be there at this moment.

Also with them was the Research Director for the Cornerian Defense Forces (RDCDF) Beltino Toad. He was in his early 30's, and wore a cheap brown suit in glasses. He looked like the nerdy person you would see at prom night. But he was extremely intelligent, and was the master weapon/vehicle designer.

"Alright, listen up!" yelled the Maj. Everybody instantly shutted up. When Jim Edwards gave orders, you'd better fucking follow them. "Now, you all have registered here by your own decision, am I correct? So, anything we do here, do not complain to us! It's not our fault that you decided to join into this old fucking shithole, as some people call it."

The Lt. walked up. "You guys will be in here for three weeks tops. We'd keep you here longer, but we're in a war, and we don't have that time. So, you all should work your asses off these following three weeks for your benefit out in the battle. Do you understand?"

"Yes sir!" the group shouted.

"Now, we'll show you around our facilities here," said the Sgt.

_A few hours later..._

Now the group of would-be privates found themselves in the most technologically advanced building they all have ever seen. Even the Commissioned Officers were taken by surprise. See, the only person who has seen this room before was Beltino. He was the Research Director, after all.

What they saw was a gigantic room with walls streaming with chrome finishing. Around them were tables loaded with all kinds of unique looking weapons. Computers filled the area, and there were other varieties of machinery that I cannot describe.

"Now then, let's all gather around the room. Clear out the middle area," instructed Beltino. "I'm going to show you a demonstration involving new weapons I have prepared for this occasion. Now Jack, I need you for this demo."

The Lt. walked towards the center of the room. Beltino handed him a simple machine gun. "You're all familiar with the kind of ammunition we use. Just simple bullets and gunpowder. Now, look over at that silver wall. There on that wall is three feet of steel. Lt., will you please fire at that wall?"

He started to fire at the wall. A few bullets penetrated the surface, but most of them bounced off. He finished the clip.

"See how only some of the bullets were able to shoot through the steel? Usually, a good rocket launcher could blast this thing to smithereens. But if you don't have one, what the hell are you going to do?"

He took the machine gun away from the Lieutenant, and handed him one of those strange looking weapons that were sitting on the table. "Here is the future of our military arsenal. Lt., will you fire _one shot_ at that wall?"

He did. A flash of green shot out of the gun, and it bursted through the steel wall instantly. The group was amazed, and they applauded. "Thank you, thank you. We are beginning mass production on these weapons so they will be ready for battle. I will warn you, the enemy is also developing new weapons similar to ours. We will not win this one so easily."

---------Eladard---------

As a matter of fact, Beltino was right. As if Andross had knew Corneria had upgraded their weapons dramatically, he had various varieties of arsenal to choose from. They had plasma pistols that can charge up and fire a huge, green flame; guns that shot out needle-like projectiles that stuck on the target and exploded; and sticky grenades that engulfed multiple targets in an explosive, blue fire (Yes, I am a Halo fan.)

_---------_Field---------

_The next day..._

The training began. First thing they did was run laps outside. Sgt. Pepper ordered 10 people at a time to take four laps around the field. Mind you, this was a big-ass field. The four laps would probably equally a mile.

For James, this was a cakewalk. Out of this group, he was probably one of the fastest runners, if not _the _fastest. He sped through the group, and got his mile done in four minutes. Peppy came in at six minutes, and Pigma came in at ten. The group breathed heavily – James only sighed.

"Very impressive, McCloud," said the Sgt., slapping him on the back.

"Thank you sir," he said, wiping sweat off his forehead.

"Alright, next ten! Get your asses in there!" His attention directed at James again. "You run a lot?"

"I did in school. You know, track and stuff like that? Got lots of medals and everything," he said. "I also jog almost every morning.

"You could be a fuckin' great help. Hey Lt.! Check this out!"

The Lt. ran up to the two of them. "Yeah, Sgt.?"

"Look at this guy's time! 4.05 minutes. Haven't seen a time like that in a while."

"Nice! You're almost tied with the Major! His time was 4.02," he said.

James was dumbfounded. "R-really?"

"Yeah! I'd like to see you two race!"

"I'd like to see that too," said the Major from behind. "Maybe someday. How about it, James?"

"S-sure," stammered James.

_To be continued..._


	12. Revealing

**Revealing**

---------Eladard---------

_Conference room..._

Andross smiled wider than anyone in the room. Why? Because now the Cornerian army will be completely overwhelmed for the next several years. Macbeth and Katina have agreed to come out of neutrality, and declare war. His plan could not go any smoother.

"Well, that's that then," said Nice Guy Eddie. "We will wait a month to get settled here. We can start up our factories now and have them produce more weapons. We need about, what, four billion?" Andross nodded.

"So what do we do now?" asked Horse Hung Harry.

"**Get your men ready. Surround your planets, and have an air force guard the atmospheres,"** instructed Andross. **"The way I see it, you six are the main targets, including me. When they find out I've been helping you guys out, they'll go on a kill-crazy rampage. They probably won't want to kill you, but don't even give them the chance to capture you. Go back to your planets, and tell them my instructions. Then hide yourself in a secure area and surround yourself with the best security you can afford."**

---------Training Center #3---------

_Two weeks later..._

One more week to go. James was now battle ready. He was officially a private, and he didn't need any more training. But Beltino said that what he was going to show them was going to be important, and will definitely give their enemy hell.

Only twelve people were in the hangar bay, including himself, Peppy, and Pigma. The rest were the Major, the Lieutenant, and the Sergeant. Pvt. Martin Monroe, Pvt. MacDonald, and Pvt. Fred Hamill from the invasion were there as well. The others were unknown to James.

Beltino Toad walked into the hangar bay, along with General Miller. The group saluted him. "At ease," he said. "You are all here, because you have been assigned to the 2nd Ranger Battalion. These groups are only for the best of the best, and they handle everything the rest of the army can't."

James tried to take the moment in. This was a great honor to him. This group here was considered to be better than the rest of the army. And he was part of that group. He wanted to smile, but he kept a straight face.

"You, along with the other two battalions, are responsible for the capture of the five leaders. Kill them if you must, but try to avoid that. We do not want to make this situation any more worse than it is."

Beltino spoke up. "Now, not only are you the 2nd Ranger Battalion, but you are also the 2nd Aviation Battalion. So, I've designed a new aircraft for you all, and I had a prototype of the ship brought here."

A couple of assistants brought out an A-shaped, single seat fighter (I won't describe it, because you already know what it looks like). The group stared at the machine, jaws dropped.

"Compliments of _Space Dynamics Co. Ltd." _Beltino beamed. "This here is the R-Wing (or Arwing, if you like). I guarantee you, you will not find one single aircraft that can match this one..."

---------Eladard---------

Au contraire, Beltino. Andross has also made an aircraft for his Rangers that could match the Arwing. Only difference is that it's W-shaped (I think you can guess what ship this is...)

---------Apartment #207---------

The Cornerian Army decided to let the soldiers visit their loved ones and families before they shipped out tomorrow. Since James didn't have any loved ones or family members, he sat in his home that night to get some rest. He was watching the news, when he heard a knock on the door. He got up, opened the door, and he saw the last person he would expect to be visiting his home. Vixy.

You can imagine how James reacted. "Wha...how...why...Hi, Vixy."

"Hey." She walked in. "Can I sit?"

"Sure, go ahead," he said, confused. Why would she visit him, of all people? "So, um...why did you come by?"

She sighed and looked up at him. He could see that her eyes were watery. "I just needed someone to talk to."

"About what?"

She sighed again. "Jim and I...we, um...broke up."

"What?" James was struck. He didn't see this coming. "What happened?"

"He came over just 30 minutes ago. He just said it wouldn't work out, and he left."

"Wait...did he say why it wouldn't work out?"

"No. He left, just like that. He must've been too scared to tell me."

"Wow, I'm sorry." James sat down and patted her on the back. 

"No, it's alright. I was thinking about breaking up too. We just haven't been spending any time together like we used to."

"Hey, I'm curious. How did you two meet?" Vixy was silent for a while. "Um, I'm sorry if this is an uncomfortable question..."

"No, it's alright. You see, Jim and I meeting also has to do with my fear of being around other mammals."

"Oh. Well then, you don't have to..."

"No, it's okay. I want to get it out of my system." She paused for a minute, then started to tell the story. "It was when I was sixteen years old. I was stressed out, and I wanted to drink. I dunno, it just seemed like a good idea at the time..."

---------Flashback---------

Vixy stumbled into the bar, looking around. She saw what you would usually see at a bar. The bartender was a fat hog who was smoking a cigarette. There were intoxicated mammals sitting at the bar table, including humans. They chugged down beer after beer after beer like there was no stopping them.

She sat herself down on one of the stools, away from the group. She asked for a beer and right away the bartender slipped her one. She was about to say thank you, but then she saw him wink and grin. It was obvious that he was trying a move on her. So instead, she looked down at her mug and took a sip. Vixy never tried beer before, and the first sip tasted horrible. After a while though, the beer was pleasing to her, and she kept drinking. She finished one mug in five minutes, then moved onto another one.

As she started on her second beer she saw the men looking at her, as if they were waiting for something. She nervously turned away and drank. She gulped down her mug and tossed it aside. Now she was starting to feel a little dizzy. Her vision was definitely starting to blur, and her stomach was fluttering. But she didn't want to stop.

But before she was about to buy another one, a white haired wolf strolled up to her. He sat down next to her. "Hey there, pretty lady. What's your name?"

Vixy looked at him warily then said, "Vixy," and turned away.

The wolf inched closer to her. "I'm Grant. I saw that you were all alone here. Maybe I could give you some company."

Vixy was not impressed. "No, I'd like to be alone right now," she said.

"Come on, I'll buy you another beer."

"No thank you."

Grant wouldn't let up. He kept asking and asking, and by the time he was done, Vixy was done with her sixth beer. She was definitely intoxicated. _Perfect, _thought Grant.

"So, can I stay here?"

Vixy looked at him not warily, but wearily. "Sure..." she droned.

"Great! And um, can some of my friends here stay as well?"

"Okay...sounds great..."

Grant motioned a group of his friends over at where Vixy was sitting. One of these characters was Andross, but Vixy couldn't tell. Some of the guys inched closer to her, and she didn't mind. One of them grabbed her in the wrong spot, and she didn't even notice. She was practically brainless. And they had her where they wanted her.

After a couple of minutes, Grant says, "Hey, want to come with me?"

Vixy, whose mind was fried by now, decided yes. She followed him to the men's bathroom. And there, Grant pushed into the wall and started to kiss her. Vixy, drunk as she was, didn't do anything about it. She let him lick her face off without any fret. After all that beer, she was starting to faint. She blacked out, while Grant proceeded to undress her.

_30 minutes later..._

Vixy started to come to, when she realized that she had no clothes and somebody was fucking her. It was Grant, along with some other people (and Andross) in the background who were enjoying this little frenzy. She screamed and tried to pull away.

"Hey, she's awake!" somebody yelled.

"Grab her, she's getting away!"

She kicked the wolf, who returned the favor by slapping her in the face. She saw her clothes and tried to get to them. But the other guys pulled her away. She wailed out for help, but nobody came. She cried her eyes out while the guys preceded to rape her. Andross came up with some duck tape and taped her mouth shut. Grant laughed, then heard somebody coming. Thinking something was going to happen, he quietly slipped his clothes on and strolled out of the bathroom. Outside, he saw a young Jim Edwards walking up to the bathroom. He passed by Grant, who started to run his ass off.

Jim bashed the bathroom door open, and saw what was happening. He pulled out a gun and pointed it at Andross. The other guys backed away, leaving Vixy on the floor crying.

"We've been looking for you," he said.

"**I can imagine," **Andross jeered.

"What are you doing to her?" Jim asked.

"**What do you think we're doin'?" **

At that little remark, Jim grabbed Andross's arm and cuffed him. More men in uniform proceeded to cuff the other men, and Jim helped Vixy up. She put on her clothes quietly. Then he walked Andross out, who was fiddling with his watch. A laser shot out, and burned his cuffs off. He skimmed Jim's arm, who yelled out in pain. The other police officers tried to grab him back, but Andross was fast. He ran out of the bar, with the police on his tail. They fired at him, but Andross deflected them back with something on his arm. It looked like some sort of shield coming from his watch. Vixy watched as he killed the police officers one by one.

"Fuck!" Jim snarled. He looked at his arm with anger, and was about to chase after that creep. But he had almost forgotten that Vixy was there. He looked at her and said, "You want a ride home?" She nodded. They both got in his car, and Jim drove off with Vixy in the back.

"You alright?" he asked. Vixy didn't respond. "You know who that man was? That was Andross. I'm sure you heard of him, right?" She only nodded. "Well, we could've caught him, if only he didn't have that laser." She stayed silent.

Jim drove up to her home, and walked her up the steps. "Well, I'll see you later I guess." He turned to walk away.

"Wait!" Vixy called. Jim turned. "I didn't get your name..."

"Oh, um... Jim Edwards."

"Vixy," she said, shaking hands with him. "Thank you."

"No problem," he said, slowly walking back to his car. Vixy watched as he drove away.

---------End Flashback---------

James could've gone his whole life without hearing that story. But it was too late, and he was completely stunned that this actually happened. He was also surprised that Andross was a part of this. And Grant... he's heard that name before.

He looked over at Vixy, who was starting cry. "You know, not all mammals are like that," he said.

"I know, but that night just haunts me everyday. I'm afraid of that happening again." She wiped her tears off. James leaned over to pat her, and she stuck her head to his chest. He sighed, wondering where he heard that name...

---------Eladard---------

Andross laid back in his chair, thinking about the night in the bar. Boy, what a night that was! That fox sure looked pathetic in that bathroom... He jolted up, realizing something. He pondered for a moment, when Nice Guy Eddie walked in, seeing Andross with a confused look on his face. "What is it?"

"**Remember that time where we were in the bar, and we were raping that female fox?"**

"I wasn't there, but you told me about it before. What about it?"

He paused for a minute. **"I've seen that same fox before. After that little party, I mean." **He sat back in his chair, thinking some more. Where could he have seen that fox?

_To be continued..._


	13. The 2nd Ranger Battalion Ships Out

**The 2nd Ranger Battalion Ships Out**

---------Hangar Bay #9---------

The transport was docked, waiting for the 2nd Battalion to load up. The other two battalions had other transports. James carried a few boxes of heavy weapons onto the ship. The others took the liberty of docking the Arwings in. The pilot, a robot named ROB-16, was in the cockpit, checking to make sure everything was on the up-and-up. A few minutes later, it affirmed that everything checked out. Knowing that, Sgt. Pepper ordered everyone to get on board. The soldiers climbed into the ship, and into the "living area."

On the outside, the transport was a real sight. The cockpit stuck out like a head of a fox, and there were four wings, two pointed up and two pointed down (Sound familiar?). However, the interior was not nearly as spectacular. Inside, the main color scheme was gray and more gray. The walls were lined with pipes and wires, and the ceiling wasn't very different. The chairs, when Peppy tested them, were uncomfortable and stiff. The bathrooms were something you'd expect out of a crappy gas station. The sleeping quarters had only small bunks, which were only a small percentage more comfortable than the chairs. The mess hall and kitchen weren't any better than the rest of the ship. Yep, this is another case of the book not being anything like the cover. However, Beltino kept saying how the ship's performance was the main feature. They would have to see if he was right.

When it got the order, ROB blasted away out of the hangar. The soldiers tumbled around, trying to hang on to whatever they could find. Well, the ship was definitely fast...

---------Space---------

While everybody was settling in, James took the time to look over the list of soldiers in this unit.

Edwards, James. Major

Lombardi, John. Lieutenant

Pepper, Robert. Sergeant

MacDonald, Elias. Corporal

Monroe, Martin. Private First Class

Hamill, Fredrick. Private First Class

McCloud, James. Private

Hare, Peppy. Private

Johnson, David. Private

Dengar, Pigma. Private

Phoenix, Christopher. Private

Lynx, Matthew. Private

James did not know #9, 11, or 12. David Johnson was the only human in the battalion. Christopher Phoenix was _not_ actually a phoenix, but a fox. And Matthew Lynx was some sort of leopard. And, uh, that's all I have to say about that.

If they were on Corneria right now, it would be late at night. So the soldiers got ready for bed and clamored into the sleeping quarters. James climbed up to the top bunk, with Peppy at the bottom. Pigma got a bunk right next to theirs, with Martin Monroe on the top. James settled in and scrambled inside his bag to find a book he was starting and a flashlight. It was _Rainbow Six _by Tom Clancy. It was an oldie, but the few pages he read were pretty good.

He pulled it out, but there was something stuck in the middle of it. James opened the book, and an envelope fell out. This was strange. Who would give a letter to him? He opened it up and pulled out the letter. He took out the flashlight and shone it on the paper. It said:

_Hey, it's me. I just wanted to write to tell you good luck. I hope you come back in one piece. _

_Lot's of love,_

_Vixy Reinard._

Is this some sort of joke? Maybe the letter wasn't for him. He checked the envelope. Sure enough, there was his name, in bold letters. What really baffled him was her last words: Lot's of love. Did she really...

Nah.

---------Planning Room---------

Early morning. The officers were looking at a map of the planet Zoness. It was marked in red letters: Operation Black Apple. Their destination was this planet and their target was William Black, or "Fudge Boy."

"Should we use the Arwings?" asked Jack.

"We'll use them to get there," said Jim, fiddling with his sunglasses. "I heard the planet is heavily guarded, especially out in the atmosphere. But when we land, we have to leave the Arwings"

"Why?"

"Think about it. I've seen what these Arwings can do. They'd do some serious damage. That's why I don't want to use them. We want this guy alive. I don't want to fuck this situation up any more than it is right now, especially since we didn't do anything."

Jack nodded, understanding what he was saying.

"So," continued Jim, "we'll land right outside this island here." He pointed at a coastline. "This is far away from the base, but it's better than just dropping in right there and getting shot to swiss cheese. It's better that we go in quietly."

"Sounds like a plan. Sarge?" the Lt. called out. Pepper ran in a mere few seconds later. "Give the wake up call. We're going to reach Zoness in three hours."

---------Mess Hall---------

"Eat up guys. This is one of the few decent meals we're going to get during this whole charade."

Christopher Phoenix (or Topher) was handing out breakfast to everyone. He was the only one in this unit who could cook. There were eggs, bacon, and coffee. Not bad, considering the state of the kitchen.

"What do you mean, 'One of the few decent meals?'" asked Matthew (Matt) Lynx.

"You can't expect me to cook this down there. Nope, don't expect a meal like this one for lunch today. That is, if we even get to lunch."

"Men, after this get your gear. We'll see the little shit-hole known as Zoness soon," said Edwards.

"Hey Major. I thought Zoness was all water. Like Aquas, except more shittier," said Pigma.

"No, there is some land there. Not a whole lot, but enough for 'Fudge Boy' to set his base of operations," replied the Lieutenant.

"I know a place back on Earth that's almost exactly like Zoness," said David Johnson. "Washington, D.C."

---------Zoness---------

James looked out at the transparent entrance of the hangar. Thousands of ships surrounded the space around Zoness. They were ready to attack at any time. He felt his stomach lurch. Despite the fact that a quarter of the Cornerian Air Force is right behind them, he still wasn't feeling the greatest at this moment. The other two Ranger Battalions did not reach their destination yet, so this was officially the start of the Lylat War.

He climbed into Arwing #7. The others boarded theirs and started up their engines. They waited for ROB to unlock the restraining docks which held the Arwings in place. The hangar opened up, and James could feel the air outside his ship rush past him.

"_Don't worry about that army," _said Edwards over the intercom. "_Let the Air Force take care of that. Focus on getting to our destination."_

With that, ROB let the restraining docks go and one by one the Arwings launched out the hangar. Everyone felt their adrenaline level rise as they flew right into the crowd of Zoness's army. The Cornerian Air Force burst forward, and the Zoness army fired. The crowds of ships charged forward towards each other, while the Rangers tried to maneuver around the thousands of aircrafts. There were simply too many of them, but the Arwings could take quite a beating. Ships pelted the Arwings like giant hailstones. Green and red laser fire filled the battle zone, taking down ships left and right.

The Arwings descended into Zoness, clearing away anything in their path. The flight down took hours before they even saw their landing zone – a beach. James could see the green, murky water wash along the shore, which was surrounded by army men. To add to the difficulty, there were some machine gun turrets around the outer edge of the beach. _That's fantastic..._

The Major was the first to land, and managed to take out a few soldiers below him doing so. He jumped out of his Arwing and whipped out his Gatling Gun. He fired excessively at the enemy, while the Lt. landed next. The others landed one by one, and the Rangers leaped out of their ships. James sprayed out lasers with a blaster rifle, ripping through them as if they were tin foil. Fred Hamill threw a grenade into a crowd, blasting sand and blood into the air. Martin Monroe got into a prone position near high ground, where he landed. He sniped at the enemies, blowing their heads all over the ground.

Peppy hid behind a large rock, with a machine gunner blasting it away. The gunner stopped to reload, and the Private stood up and fired. He managed to hit his target, who fell to the ground. The gunner yelled in pain, as he tried to look for his arm. The last thing he saw was a blaster aimed right at his head.

Pigma charged at one enemy, who was reloading. He tried to fire, but was out of bullets. So he smacked the gun away from him, and struck him in the forehead with the butte of his rifle. The enemy fell down, and before he could finish the job, the man knocked him over with his arm. The enemy reached for his gun, but Pigma punched him in the nose, breaking it. He howled, and Dengar delivered one final blow in the head.

The remaining enemies retreated, and the Rangers regrouped. None injured, all accounted for. Edwards breathed deeply and straightened his sunglasses. "We'll rest here for a bit."

James collapsed onto the ground. He's never been to another planet before, and he could notice the difference right away. The smell was terrible, and he was getting naucous. He threw up.

"Whoa!" yelled Pepper. "If you're gonna do that shit, do it in the sea! Wouldn't make much difference."

"I feel your pain, buddy," said Martin, looking a little green.

"Count me in," said David, joining them in this little puke contest.

"Guys, lighten up," said Jack, laughing. "You should have been with us five, or six years ago. Whoo! Talk about puke! We were exploring the sewers in Corneria City, and this wasn't nearly as bad as that. Everybody was retching their guts out! Jim, you remember? You shot your lunch all over us, and I barfed on our supplies! And it wasn't that lightweight stuff either! It was that chunky, industrial weight-type puke!"

"You can stop right there, Jack," said Jim, smiling. "You're making me feel sick just thinking about it."

"Damn, if that's how you guys are, maybe we should _skip _lunch," said Topher.

"Why? What's on the menu?" asked Pigma, wiping the blood off his gun.

"Well, not much. For lunch, we have some shit," he said, pulling out a bag of dried meat. "For dinner tonight, we have some more shit." He pulled out another bag of dried meat. "And tomorrow for breakfast, we have even more shit." He brought out some dried bread and crackers.

"Goddamn. Anything to drink?" wondered Peppy.

"Well, you can't expect us to drink _that._" He pointed at the sea. "I got some canteens, but you'll have to make them last." He handed out a canteen to everyone. James took his and heard the water inside swish around. That sound alone just made him really thirsty.

"How long are we staying here?" asked Elias MacDonald.

"About an hour, at least," replied Jack.

"Good, I'm beat." The corporal laid down and fell asleep immediately.

"Hey Topher, give me some of that," said Matt, pointing at the meat. Topher handed him a piece.

"Anyone else?"

Despite what his stomach just did to him a few minutes ago, James took a piece. He chewed at the meat, which wasn't bad. He laid down, wondering what would happen in the next few days.

_To be continued..._


	14. Operation: Black Apple

**Operation: Black Apple**

---------Zoness---------

The Rangers trekked along the island for days and days. They had to keep this quiet, so they all had silencers on their weapons. It didn't matter anyway, because nothing really happened during the past few days. Occasionally they would bump into another unit caught in the middle of a fight. Naturally, the Rangers had to help them out. One battle that was especially tiring was during the afternoon. One machine gun bunker positioned at the top of a large hill had C Company of the 1st Battalion, 22nd Infantry Regiment (The "Bulldogs," as they call themselves) in a pickle.

The Bulldogs were all in a trench a quarter-mile away from the hill. There were twenty of them firing at the bunker, having no luck of course. The rest were either dead or injured. The bunker fired regular bullets instead of their kind of ammo, but the location they were in compensated for that. The Major crawled up to the group.

"WHO ARE YOU GUYS?" he yelled over the gunfire.

"1ST BATTALION, 22ND INFANTRY, SIR!" a Private yelled back. "WE'RE C COMPANY!"

"BULLDOGS, HUH? WHERE'S YOUR OFFICER?"

"OVER THERE, OTHER SIDE!" The Private pointed over at the left, where there were other soldiers firing.

Edwards motioned half of his battalion to move left and the other half to help out the others. Six of the Rangers (The Lt., McCloud, Dengar, Phoenix, Lynx, and Monroe) crawled through the trench, some shooting at the gunners over their shoulders. More bullets zoomed past their heads, barely missing them. They reached the other side in a matter of minutes. The loudness wasn't so bad over here.

"Who's the officer of this unit?" he asked.

A bulldog raised his hand. How appropriate. "Captain Paul Stanley."

"Major Jim Edwards. What's going on here?

"This bunker is blocking our objective. We're trapped in this hole unless we get rid of those guys." Bullets peppered the ground, spraying sand on the ducked soldiers.

"What _is _your objective?" asked the Lt.

"The 22nd Infantry's orders are to reach the middle of this island by the day after. From what I heard, 'Fudge Boy' should be somewhere around that area. We're responsible for driving out their forces so we give the 2nd Ranger Battalion a chance to capture Fudge Boy," Stanley explained. "By the way, where _are _the Rangers?"

Edwards smiled. "You're looking at 'em."

Stanley chuckled. "Wow, no kidding? Why is there only six of you?"

"The others are over there. Well Captain, since taking out this bunker is just as important to us as it is to you, we'll have no problem helping you guys out."

"Appreciate it," said the officer. "What's your plan?"

"Keep your unit firing at the bunker. The other half of our battalion will stay with you. We'll sneak around the trench and find some way in. Once we're inside, we should have no problem."

Stanley nodded and told the plan to his soldiers. The Rangers ducked and ran. They went around the trench, looking for some way in. Nothing. No entrance of any kind. Not even a hole.

"Bastards must have patched up the way in," observed the Lt. "What do you think?"

Edwards peeked up, looking over the wall. "There must be some sort of weak spot." He ducked, avoiding a couple of bullets. "We can't exactly chuck a grenade from this far. McCloud, get over here!" James ran up to the Major. "I want you to run to that bunker as fast as you can. Take this with you and find a weak spot." He handed him a sticky bomb. James nodded. "Take off your armor and bring just your pistol; you'll be faster this way. Run over there to the right. We'll cover you."

Everyone got their weapons ready and took their silencers off. James ran to the right and placed his hands on top of the trench. "Covering fire!" the Major yelled. The Rangers jerked up and fired at the bunker. "Go! Go!"

James pushed himself out of the trench and ran for it, keeping the bomb at his side. The machine gunners noticed him and aimed their fire at him. Sand flew into his face as the bullets impacted the ground. He jerked to the left, with the stream of bullets following him as if he was some sort of magnet. A minute later, he reached the side of the bunker.

He crept along the side, feeling for cracks or weak points. It took him a couple of minutes before he found one. There was a large crack along the side of the wall. Perfect. He activated the bomb and attached it to the wall. He ran along the bunker and ducked. A loud blast filled his ears and shook the ground. He turned around and saw smoke being belched out of the wall. The wall itself crumbled, and gave him an entrance.

James ran inside. He saw stairs and a stack of crates. One was open, and he could see it was filled with grenades. He took out his pistol and hid behind the crates. He could hear footsteps coming down the stairs. About four of them, he guessed. When he heard them get close enough, he reached into a crate for a grenade. He pulled the pin and tossed it over his head. He heard yells and panic before an explosion drowned them out. He could feel something land on him afterwards. He threw it onto the ground, and saw a dismembered leg.

Their weapons were blown to pieces, but he was thankful that the crates were unscathed. James jerked open the crates and found med kits, weapons, explosives and armor. If heaven was an armory, this would be it. He stole a rifle and stocked up on supplies. He ran up the stairs. He could still hear machine guns from above. A soldier ran into him, but couldn't do anything before James shot him in the chest. He tumbled down the steps.

James kept going up until he reached the top. He saw a trap door on the ceiling, and heard gunfire above. He opened the door slowly and found himself in the middle of the top story. He took out another grenade. He looked over at a group of machine gunners, stuck his arm out, and rolled it over to them. Within a second, blood sprayed onto the floor like graffiti.

Instantly, the other soldiers stopped the machine guns and fired at the trap door. He ducked and returned fire. Bullets shot through, turning the door into swiss cheese. One soldier tried to climb down, but James pulled him down and shot him in the head. He was practically in a perfect position right under their feet, as long as nobody else comes up from behind him.

He heard the sound of a sniper rifle echoing throughout the place. Pvt. Monroe must be taking some of them out. He peeked through the hole and saw nobody. Everyone up here was killed. He ran down the steps and outside the bunker. The Bulldogs saw a few casualties while the Rangers had none. Sgt. Pepper walked up to James, slapping him on the back. "Well done, boy!"

James nodded in thanks and joined the rest of the group. "How many have we lost?"

"None," replied Lombardi. "Can't say the same for the Bulldogs, sadly. They lost about a dozen guys." He pointed over at the survivors, who were marking the dead bodies for grave detail.

"Hey, I found an armory inside the bunker. They have loads of shit in there," said James.

"Good, we'll need that. Men, get everything we need from that bunker," ordered Edwards.

_Later at night..._

The Rangers and the Bulldogs traveled along together until they reached the point where they had to separate. They were going to the same place, but had to take different paths. The Rangers headed east, walking for hours until they reached the edge of a wetland. 

"There's no way we can walk through this shit when it's this dark," said the Lt.

"Right. Bivouac here for the night, men," ordered Edwards. "We'll continue on in the morning. Our relief group should also be here any time soon."

All the Rangers set up their sleeping bags, while Fred started a fire in the middle. 

"Dinner, anyone?" asked Topher. Everyone raised their hand. He passed out some beef jerky.

"This stuff's actually not that bad," remarked David, chewing.

Matt happened to take notice of James' ear. "What happened there?" James took a few minutes to explain the story. "Damn. Must have been one hell of a ride there."

"Jeez, that takes balls to do that," commented Elias.

"Exactly what I said," Edwards said. 

"So, um...you like this girl, James?" asked Pepper, jokingly.

James snorted. "No. I just needed to protect her, that's all," he lied.

"Oh, yeah right!" Pigma yelled out, smiling. "This guy had his eye on her ever since he met her!"

"Guys, quit it!" James shouted, afraid of what Jim's reaction would be.

"James, don't worry about it," said the Major. "Vixy and I are over, alright? If you like her, then I'm happy for you."

"Really?" James didn't expect that reaction at all. "Well, then...I like her."

"I knew it!" yelled Topher.

"Hey come on. Leave the guy alone," said Peppy, laughing.

"James, no need to feel ashamed. At least you're not gay, like _some _of these guys here," joked Monroe.

James smiled, feeling a little embarrassed, but glad that he got that off his chest. Which reminded him. He wanted to write back to Vixy. Once everyone was asleep, he took out a flashlight and a piece of paper.

_Dear Vixy,_

_How are things going over there? Must be a lot better than over here, let me tell you that. It smells like shit here 24/7 and it's really cold at night. I'm freezing my ass off right now. _

Well, I hope things are going alright over there.

_Sincerely,_

_James._

Not the greatest letter in the world, but he was tired. When the relief group comes, they'll be able to mail it to her. He stuffed the letter inside an envelope, scribbled her address, and put it in his backpack.

_Morning..._

"Wake up! Relief group's here," said Pepper.

James sat up, rubbing his eyes. He remembered his letter and took out the envelope. He handed it to a Private, who stuffed it in his backpack.

A Corporal walked up to Edwards with a crate. "We've got weapons, food, everything here."

"We don't need to worry about weapons. But we do need food."

"Oh, you guys will love this stuff." The Corporal took out a ton of instant meal packages out of the crate. All they needed to do was add water. He handed them to Topher, who stared at the food.

"Finally! Some half-decent meals!"

The Corporal also took out a jug of water. "Need any refills?" Everybody handed him their canteens, which were now loaded with water. "If that's it, then we gotta get going."

"That's it," said Jack. "Thanks a lot."

The relief group walked away, while everyone poured water over their breakfast packages. "Eat fast, guys. We need to go through this swamp and it'll be smooth sailings from there," said Edwards.

The Rangers chowed down their breakfasts, and got their gear together. They entered through the swamp, and right away the smell turned from awful to crap-tacular. The temperature went from cold to humid. Bugs were flying all around, making meals out of the Rangers. They slapped themselves silly, trying to get rid of them.

"Rub water on yourselves, men," ordered Pepper, taking scoops of water from puddles in the ground.

"You kidding me? I'm not rubbing this shit on me!" complained Pigma.

"Just do it! See, the bugs are going away."

Reluctantly, everyone started drenching themselves with the water. Edwards took out a PDA that had a map of the entire area.

"That way," he said, pointing left. They headed left, then right, then right again, then left, then right, then left, then left again. It went something like that for hours. Right up until they reached the flood lands.

The flood lands were about waist-deep. Nothing but water. "What the hell are we supposed to do now?" asked Pigma.

"Wait." Edwards looked at his PDA, zooming in and out. "We went the right way. Now we just have to cross this."

"Why can't we go around?"

"On the map, this flood land stretches miles and miles. We need to get through this as fast as possible."

Pigma groaned, but followed along as the Rangers dipped into the water. It was freezing cold, which was pleasant after the humidity in the swamp, but the pleasantry wore off after a few minutes. They waded through as fast as they could. Then David suddenly dropped. Matt helped the humanoid up, who was soaked and shivering. The Major swam towards them, feeling around where David fell.

"It's a small crater," he said. "They must be all over this place." He continued on slowly. "Nobody wander off now. Wade through slowly."

The soldiers continued on, feeling around for craters. James almost slipped into one. He avoided that, but not before tripping into another one. Topher managed to grab him before he could drown, but slipped into another one in the process. This whole frenzy lasted for hours on end.

By nighttime, the Rangers were wet, cold, and exhausted. After they got out of the swamps, some fell to the ground, trying to catch their breath. Now the Zoness air didn't seem so bad.

They found an empty cave at the bottom of a hill. The Major zipped off his coat and armor, laying them on the ground. Others did the same, trying to get their clothes dry.

"We'll rest here," said Edwards. He took a sip out of his canteen and adjusted his sunglasses. "We're about a mile away from the base, so we'll definitely be there by morning."

"If we're a mile away, shouldn't we be able to see it?" asked Pigma.

"Sure, it should be over there somewhere." The Major pointed over to the south, where they could see just a faint outline of their objective. "No fire tonight, men. We can't risk being seen."

---------Fudge Boy's Base of Operations---------

A huge, bulging pile of lard with fur that makes Jabba the Hutt look like a skank is the only way I can describe William Black. Gnawing on a bar of chocolate, he arranged for all his soldiers on the island to retreat to his base via messages on their PDAs. His tech experts managed to intercept a message saying that the Cornerian Army's attack will be tomorrow, so he's going to try anything and everything to protect himself.

---------The Cave---------

James was awoken by footsteps and shouting. He sat up, looking around and seeing nothing but a sleeping battalion. But his ears begged to differ. He could hear chattering from above them. He shook everyone awake, telling them about the noise. They all listened, faintly hearing the following:

"...we doing here? Why are we going back?"

"Fudge Boy ordered us to! He said something about an attack the Cornerian Army scheduled for today."

"Damn, haven't we had enough fighting for one week?"

"It's war, jackass! You don't like it? Might as well be eating your mother's pussy out right now!"

Laughter.

"Alright, let's go! Get to the base, double time!"

The Major told everyone to hide. The Rangers ducked behind a couple of pillars. James peaked over and saw Zoness troops running down the hill, seemingly dropping from above. When the coast was clear, the Rangers murmured among themselves.

"What the hell are we supposed to do know?" asked Pigma.

Edwards sighed, tipping his sunglasses. "I'll have to warn everyone about this." He began typing a message on his PDA.

"They'll be able to intercept it," warned Jack.

"I don't care. We need to get this out." He pressed "Send to," and started sending the message to every Cornerian Officer on the island. "Let's get ready."

The soldiers picked up their clothes, which were now dry, and slipped them on. They ate a quick breakfast, gathered everything up, and headed out of the cave. They could see the base much better now. It seemed much closer than a mile away.

"Hey, you!"

The Rangers turned around and saw a Cornerian Army unit walking towards them. "Who are you?" asked Edwards.

"We're 3rd Battalion, 22nd Infantry. The whole 22nd Infantry is supposed to meet at the base by morning," said an eagle. "I'm Captain Farmer."

"Oh yeah. We came across the Bulldogs yesterday too. You guys are the...Eagles, am I right?"

"Yep. How did you guess?" The officers laughed. "Yeah, our names match our officer. Who are you guys?"

"Oh, we don't have a name. We're the 2nd Ranger Battalion."

"Ooh. Good luck today, guys." The others nodded in agreement.

"No problem," said Edwards. "Oh yeah, there is _one _problem. They know of our attack."

Farmer looked stunned. "Shit. How do you know?" Edwards explained to him the conversation they overheard in the cave. "Oh man. Well, we better get going. Does everyone else know?"

"Yeah. I sent them all messages. Let's get moving."

The Rangers and the Eagles treaded along, meeting the entire 22nd Infantry spread along a large sand dune. The Bulldogs glanced at the Rangers, nodding their heads towards them. They nodded back.

A reptile walked up to Edwards. "I'm Colonel Mike Dierker. We got your message."

"Yeah, what do we do about that?"

Dierker sighed. "Here's the plan..." All the officers gathered around.

---------Fudge Boy's Base of Operations---------

The Rangers snuck around somewhere behind the base. A brick wall surrounded the building and there were probably hundreds of armed guards, excluding the actual army. The army was busy fighting the 22nd Infantry right now.

They hid behind a Lt. Lombardi scoped out the area, looking around for the security. "Well, I see a few snipers." He pointed at the high towers. "Monroe, you better take care of those." Martin ran and hid behind a small sand dune, preparing his sniper rifle. Meanwhile, the fastest runners of the group (James, Edwards, Elias, and Pepper) were preparing to run over to the wall. They were to plant a bomb there after Martin took care of the snipers.

They couldn't hear it because of the silencer, but they could tell Martin took care of the snipers. The loud cracks of fire suddenly stopped. "Let's go!" yelled Edwards, and the four Rangers darted off. They reached the wall within seconds, and guards started to come from out of nowhere. James, Elias, and Edwards fired at them, while Pepper set up the bomb. Elias threw a grenade into three guards, blowing them to smithereens. James fired his automatic, killing them by the dozens. 

"Fire in the hole!" yelled Pepper. The four ran away from the wall, hearing a loud explosion behind them. They ducked, avoiding the bricks flying towards them. Now the armed guards went crazy, pouring out of the hole. The Rangers killed them one by one, with Martin picking a few off from his position.

Then, out of nowhere, a laser hit Elias in the stomach. He fell to the ground, screaming in pain.

"Corporal!" yelled Edwards. "Phoenix, help him out!" Topher ran in, carrying the wounded soldier out of the way. "McCloud, you go too!"

James followed Topher out into the field, well out of range of the battlefield. Elias groaned, blood gushing out of his stomach. "Lift him up," said Topher, carrying him up onto his knee. He felt around his back. He fell silent.

"What is it?" asked James, sweating.

"He has an exit wound out of his lower back. The size of a rock." He wiped the blood off, taking out cloth. "Help me out here. Take this cloth and apply pressure on the wound." James nodded, wrapping the cloth around the Corporal. He still bled through. His white feathers were drenched in red. James took out his canteen and poured water on the cloth, washing away the excess blood. Topher took out a syringe filled with morphine. "Here, Elias. You'll feel a little better." The avian coughed as he stuck the needle in. 

"Dammit! Do we have any dressing?"

"We do, but we need to stop the bleeding."

"It just keeps coming." James started to worry.

Topher looked at Elias, who was starting to grow limp. "No..." He held his head. "Come on, Corporal. Everything's okay...You'll be okay." He spoke these words in doubtness.

They sat there for hours, with Elias still holding on. Topher and James spoke to him, trying to calm him down. He breathed heavily, heaving air into his lungs. Then the avian's head grew cold. His eyes turned dull, and his heavy breathing slowed. Then...nothing.

James felt his pulse. He felt a couple of pulses, but they stopped instantly. Topher sighed, wiping tears away. He slipped the Corporal's dog tag out of his neck and took a blanket out of his bag. He laid it over the dead soldier. The two stood there looking at their slain comrade, when the rest of the Rangers appeared. They looked over at them, and saw the dead body on the ground. Edwards looked down, rubbing his eyes.

James walked up to the Major. "What happened?" he asked, not really caring. 

"Fudge Boy is at gunpoint right now. He's back there, with the Eagles." 

Topher handed him the dog tag. He sighed, putting it in his pocket. "Let's go. We're done here."

The Rangers met up with the 22nd Infantry. The total casualties for them were two hundred. Eighty-seven were dead, and the rest were injured. Fudge Boy kneeled on the ground, trying to put his hands in the air. He was too fat to even do that.

The Bulldogs offered a ride for the Rangers. They took it, and they jumped aboard in one of their trucks.

"Our Arwings are around the northeast," said Edwards. The driver nodded, and he drove away. It took them a couple of hours to get back to their Arwings. It was nighttime here, so the Rangers decided to put their ships on autopilot. There wasn't going to be anymore fighting here.

_To be continued..._


	15. Operation: Ice Storm

**Operation: Ice Storm**

---------Eladard---------

Nice Guy Eddie sat nervously at the table, as he watched Andross. He has just told him about the incident in Zoness, and he could see the human swelling up with anger. He swore that he could see a vein throb in his forehead.

"**Anything else?" **he said slowly.

"Well, Fancy Pants managed to hold off the Cornerian Army in Macbeth. They're currently still fighting as we speak, and I don't think the Cornerians have a chance."

"**How about in Fichina?"**

"Harry's got everything under control. The weather conditions there are enough to slow the Cornerians down."

Andross cheered up a little bit. **"Are the Rangers ready? Ours, I mean."**

"In a few weeks, their balls will turn into steel."

He nodded and looked away into the window. **"Those Cornerian Rangers... I'm impressed. I hate to admit it, but they're good."**

"You think so?"

"**Real fucking good." **A smile crept onto his face.

---------Transport---------

The Rangers stayed silent on the way to their next task: Fichina, where they had to help out the 1st Ranger Battalion. They mourned for their dead teammate, and attempted to sleep. James, however, could not sleep at all. He remembered the whole scene and it kept playing over and over again in his mind. He could hear Elias's gasps for air. He could feel the warmth of his blood as it poured into his hand. He could see the life in his eyes slowly fade away...

James jerked up in his bunk, awake. He breathed heavily, rubbing his eyes. Sweat poured down his head, dripping off his muzzle. He sighed, climbing down and walking to the living room. He sat down on the cold chair and laid his head on a table. He was not going to have a good night.

_Morning..._

James sat up, looking at the clock on the wall. 7:00 a.m.? How long has he been here?

He got up, rubbing his head, feeling awful. The rest of the group were in the mess hall, eating their breakfast silently. He sat down quietly and Topher handed him a tray and a cup of coffee. He looked as depressed as he was.

"You okay?" asked Peppy, who was sitting next to him.

"Yeah, I'm fine," lied James. He bit into his bagel, not noticing how stale it was.

Pigma picked up an envelope that was laying on the table. "Here," he said, handing it to James. "This might cheer you up a little."

James got up from the table, wanting to see this in private. He tore the envelope open, and there was a letter from Vixy.

Minutes later, he strolled back into the mess hall, feeling a lot better. He still wasn't _cheerful, _but at least his mind felt more loose.

---------Planning Room---------

Jim and Jack inspected the map of Fichina, figuring out what to do with their next objective.

"So what's happening with Fudge Boy?" asked the Lt.

"The General has him convinced that we had nothing to do with the creation of that bomb," said the Major.

"Good, that scratches one bogey. Who's the next target?"

Jim smiled just thinking of the name. "Horse Hung Harry, I heard."

Jack chuckled. "Where the hell do they get these names?"

"Alright, so the 1st Battalion is over by the east. Harry's base is in here somewhere." He pointed at a long line of mountains on the right side. "Damn, that's typical. Anyway, there's a handful of machine gun bunkers spread out along these mountains. We'll stay in our Arwings for this one, since it's a fucking ice box over there. We'll bring some extra smart bombs."

"I'm glad we're not down there. Amazing how they haven't been frozen solid yet."

Jim fell silent. He tipped his sunglasses, rubbing the brim. "What is it?" asked Jack.

He sighed. "Nothing. Still thinking about MacDonald." He bent his head down, looking at the map. "We'll be there soon..."

---------Fichina---------

_A day later..._

Outside, everyone could see the battle has already started. The air force was taking care of the Fichinian air force, and it looked like they were handling things pretty well.

The Rangers boarded their Arwings and blasted away. They took the easy way in and headed east, where everything was clear. Twelve fighters followed them, with one firing a smart bomb. Edwards zoomed out of the way, shooting the bomb as it passed by. He then u-turned towards the fighters, taking away two of them. The others followed suit, dodging their fire. James chased one down until they were side by side. The Arwing barrel-rolled, knocking the fighter off it's path. He fired until the ship was reduced to a ball of flame.

He looked over the left side, seeing everyone was still alive.

Edwards radioed in: _"Follow me. The other Rangers are over by those mountains." _The Rangers could see the mountains even from where they were. _How the hell is the 1st Battalion going to cross that?_ everyone thought.

They descended down through the atmosphere, which was extremely thin. In less than half an hour, they saw the surface. Fichina looked a little bit like Hoth from _The Empire Strikes Back _when there wasn't a snowstorm blazing through. The mountains were gigantic, some being almost as tall as Mount fucking Everest.

"Goddamn, now I feel _really _sorry for the 1st Battalion," said Lombardi over the radio.

"Come on, it's not like they have to climb those," replied Pigma. "Unless there are machine bunkers on those peaks."

"There are," said the Major. "Which is why we're here. We have to fly around these mountains and take out everything at the top of those peaks. Then we'll be heading back."

_Sounds easy enough, _thought James.

Laser fire was heard from behind them. James looked back and saw Peppy being chased by a fighter. More were coming into view – he guessed thirty of them. The Rangers dived into the crowd, spraying lasers all around. Peppy somersaulted over his enemy and blasted it away mid-rotation. Edwards barrel-rolled, deflecting the lasers towards the other fighters. They went down like feathers. Pepper chased down a fighter that was chasing Pigma. Pigma somersaulted but the fighter did the same, staying on his tail. Pepper charged up a laser, aimed it at the fighter and fired. The fighter broke his path and swerved to the right. But the laser followed. The fighter tried to desperately maneuver out of the way and was eventually downed.

The other remaining ships were destroyed easily. Edwards looked at the sky, counting the Arwings. Eleven accounted for. "Alright, let's move out!" he yelled into the radio. 

The Arwings flew into the mountains. They maneuvered through the maze-like path, flying into tunnels and over bridges. They spotted the 1st Battalion bivouacked between two of the giants. The Rangers hovered above them.

"_Let me speak to the C.O." _Edwards said into the radio.

A few seconds later: _"This is Captain Ronald Ramsey of the 1st Battalion, or the Canines. You guys the 2nd?"  
_

"_Yes, we are."_

"_What? No nickname?'_

"_Uh, no. Not yet. I'm Major Jim Edwards and we also have Lt. Jack Lombardi."_

"_Two C.O.'s? Damn, you're lucky."_

_  
_Edwards smiled. _"So what's been going on here?"_

"_We're pretty much stranded out here with nowhere to go. There are hundreds of machine gun bunkers stationed at the top of those peaks and we have no way to get to them. Not to mention snipers."_

"Well, you're in luck. We're here to take those bunkers out, although I can't guarantee you about the snipers."

"That's alright. We'll try to be stealthy."

"_Wait until we confirm that we have destroyed all the bunkers. Then you guys can proceed to the main objective. Stay warm."_

"_Yes sir."_ They both signed off and the Rangers zoomed away.

"We'll split up. Lt., you take Hare, Phoenix, and McCloud. I'll take Dengar and Hamill. Sgt., you take Lynx, Monroe, and Johnson."

Lombardi and his group went straight through the middle of the mountains, while the others went around the edges. Right away, they ran straight into dozens of bunkers all around.

"_Permission to speak, sir?" _James asked, firing a smart bomb at a bunker.

"_Permission granted, Private," _replied Lombardi, blasting away at a mountain peak.

"_I was wondering sir. Why don't we have a nickname?"_

"_Yeah, I've noticed that," _said Hamill, dodging the lasers fired at him. _"There's the Bulldogs, the Eagles, the Canines. Why aren't we called the Foxes or something?"_

Lombardi barrel-rolled around a peak, dropping a smart bomb onto it. _"Because, the Major wants a more creative name rather than the generic 'nickname-fits-C.O.'s-species' type of name."_

"_Can we still have 'Foxes' in the title?" _asked Peppy, spraying lasers around the rows of mountains.

"_Sure. If any of you guys come up with a good name for us, just tell us."_

The four Rangers spent the next few hours blasting away bunkers with ease. The only effort they had to make was trying not to fall asleep. After that, they met up with the others; no casualties.

"_Is everything done in your area, Lt.?" _asked Edwards.

"_Piece of fucking cake," _replied Lombardi.

"_Sarge?"_

"_Their asses have been wiped, sir."_

Edwards chuckled. _"Well done, men." _He signaled the Canines and said, _"Clear. Proceed to your objective, Captain."_

The Rangers started back to the transport, when Peppy radioed in. _"Lt.? How does 'The Flying Foxes' sound?"_

"_Hmm... I dunno, it doesn't really sound that good at all. If Jim was a squirrel, then that would work."_

"_What are you guys talking about?" _asked the Major.

"_We're trying to think of a nickname for the battalion,"_ replied Peppy.

"_Then how about the 'Vulpes'?" _suggested Matt.

"_Or the 'Reds'? You know, red foxes?" _said Topher.

As James flew on listening to this, he looked at the stars. He hadn't noticed how bright they were around here. Then a thought occurred to him. _Stars...foxes..._

"_How about 'Star Fox'?"_

The whole battalion stopped abruptly. _"Star Fox, huh?" _said Edwards. _"Now there's a thought..."_

_To be continued..._


	16. Operation: Sandblast Pt 1

**Operation: Sandblast Pt. 1**

---------Briefing Room---------

The 2nd Battalion (now dubbed "Star Fox") was now being told of their progress in the war. They have been fighting for about three months.

"Here's some good news," Edwards started off. "1st Battalion captured Horse Hung Harry. And his wife, who's pregnant I heard."

"Damn, I wish I was that guy!" joked David.

"Also, they retrieved some interesting information about the whereabouts of Andross," said Lombardi. "They have the name of the planet, but we don't know where it is."

"What's the name?" asked Pigma.

"Eladard, right?" Edwards nodded. "Yeah, Eladard. They found it on an abandoned laptop 'hidden' under somebody's bed."

"Not very bright, are they?" remarked Peppy.

"But, there's also bad news. The 3rd Battalion was assigned to Titania to get the One Eyed Ogre (Sanford Powalski). But they failed to retrieve him. Powalski is still at Titania, but he left the 3rd with only three members left. They'll be assigned to regular army services."

They fell silent. "So what do we do now?" asked Pepper.

"We're going to Titania with the 1st Battalion to try to capture the Ogre, and then we'll go to Macbeth to get Fancy Pants (Grant O'Donnell)..."

That name suddenly sent a swirl of anger through James's mind. He now realized that Grant O'Donnell was the same Grant who abused Vixy. He breathed heavily, rubbing his forehead. He clenched his fists, trying not to let it out. When the briefing was over, James excused himself to the bathroom. When he was in there, he completely lost his mind. He screamed at nobody in particular, banging against the wall. He tore off the pipes and wires and pounded on the sink. He kicked it, sending excruciating pain to his foot. He smashed the mirror with his fist, stabbing glass into his hand. He sent one last kick to the wall, then collapsed to the floor. His eyes swelled up, tears pouring down. He buried his face and cried the worst cry he's ever had since his mom died.

Edwards opened the bathroom door, seeing the damage James did to the place. He sighed, remembering that he felt the same way once. "You alright?"

James looked up, and Edwards saw an expression he wished he would never see again. "Does it look like I'm alright!" he yelled.

Edwards sighed again. "You know about the...you know. What happened at that bar?" James didn't answer. "Listen, I was just as angry as you are when I was with her. But not only from what happened to her, but also from the fact that I let Andross get away. So I can feel your pain. I've even done something like this before," he said, looking around the bathroom. "Except it was at a public restaurant and I ended up paying for it."

James looked up. "What? The bathroom?"

"Um, no. Actually I flipped my table over, and the edge landed on the waiter's legs. They were broken, and so were the dishes and glasses I started throwing onto the ground. The tray he was holding, which had ice cream and cake on it, fell right on top of General Miller's wife."

James couldn't help laughing. "What happened afterwards?"

"I was suspended from police duty for a month, and I had to pay for all the damages. Yeah, I was acting stupid in front of everyone. At least you had a whole destruction derby to yourself." He smiled, looking at the bathroom again. The tears stopped flowing but James was still feeling the pain. "Look, don't let this whole thing grab hold of you. What's done is done, alright?"

He nodded, pushing himself off the ground. "Hey, did, um, anyone hear that?"

"No, only I did. Even if they did, it's only ten people. I got humiliated in public!"

---------Mess Hall---------

"Two weeks before we get to Titania. So what the fuck are we supposed to do?" asked Pigma.

Nobody replied. Topher took a sip of his drink. "What is this? Dr. Pepper?"

"No, it's not. It's some sort of rip-off called Dr. Radical," said Matt.

"Rip-off? I didn't even know there were rip-offs of Dr. Pepper."

"Oh, you wouldn't believe it. I've actually seen a list on the Internet of all the rip-offs of Dr. Pepper. There's Mr. Pibb, Dr. Shaw's, Dr. Thunder, Dr. Zeppa, Dr. Wild, Dr. Skipper, Dr. West, Dr. A, Dr. Sparkle, and here's my personal favorite: Mr. Ahh!"

"Mr. Ahh?"

"Yeah, Mr. A-H-H. And you know what's funny? There's another one called Mr. Ahhh, made by a completely different company."

"What's the difference?" asked Pigma.

"There's three h's instead of two."

The group chuckled at this little conversation. "I need a beer," said David. "Do we have any beers?"

"No. I wish we did," answered Pepper.

"From what I'm reading here, I'm thinking they've been having one beer too many back home," said Lombardi, looking at a newspaper.

"Why, what's wrong?" asked James.

The Lt. laid the newspaper down on the table for everyone to see. The front page said this:

_Utter chaos and rioting in the streets were what went by these past few weeks in Corneria City. Anti-War Protesters marched through the city, chanting cries and complaints. They marched all the way to the Cornerian Army Naval Base, where General Miller ordered the police to block them out by any means necessary without resorting to firepower. Some protesters yelled chants while others proceeded to throw rocks and glass bottles. Some officers started to throw tear gas and smoke grenades into the crowd, and others fired in the air to settle the crowd down. These events have not just been happening in Corneria City, but back in... **con't on P. 5.**_

The Rangers fell silent looking at the article. Next to the article were pictures of picket signs and protesters and the police. "Jeez, I've seen a lot of these back on Earth," said David.

"Really? I don't think I've ever seen one happen in Corneria," said Peppy.

James sighed, thinking about writing a letter to Vixy. He needed to see how she was doing, especially after hearing about this whole mess. A relief group wasn't going to come for another week, so he had enough time to write a well thought out one this time. In other words, a much better letter than the last rushed, piece of shit letter he wrote last time.

_Next week..._

A small space craft docked into the transport carrying the relief group. A Sergeant walked out of the craft, followed by other soldiers carrying boxes of supplies. They laid them on the floor and opened them up, revealing food and weapons. The Privates started to carry the boxes out of the hangar, while James gave his letter to a Corporal. In return the Corporal handed him two telegrams and insignias, saying that they were for R. Pepper and F. Hamill. James took the items and stuffed them in his pocket, deciding to hand them out at breakfast.

A Private offered to fill up everyone's canteens. He told the crew to just give the canteens to him and he'll fill them up himself. He took them and started refilling. When nobody was looking, he took out a tube of transparent liquid and poured it into one of the canteens.

Later, when Topher started handing out coffee and breakfast, James took out the telegrams and insignias and gave them to the receivers. It turns out that Sgt. Pepper was now Second Lieutenant Pepper and Pfc. Hamill was now Corporal Hamill.

---------Eladard---------

"The package has been dropped," said Nice Guy Eddie.

"**Good."**

"What _is _the package anyway?"

"**It's a clear, tasteless, odorless liquid that will, um, 'brainwash' one of those unfortunate Rangers. I told them to pour it into one of the canteens."**

"What do you mean, 'brainwash'?"

"**I mean, it'll wash away everything he knows about himself except his name. Then his mind will be filled with someone else's ideas, someone else's beliefs, and someone else's thoughts."**

"Who is that someone else?"

Andross pointed to himself. "**It'll be a slow process, but at some point or another that person will contact me and tell me everything. Their plans, their location, everything. Then eventually, that man will betray everyone close to him. Friends, family, everyone. Basically, I'll be destroying his life." **He smirked. "**That liquid also had a very small tracking device, so I'll be able to see where his battalion is going. I think it's time to test out our Rangers."**

---------Transport---------

The transport was approaching Titania. ROB-16 roamed around the cockpit, doing his daily routine. This is what he does pretty much every day, since he doesn't have a personality. He can't even talk.

A small alarm suddenly sounded and the radar started flashing. He looked and saw that it picked up eight signals coming from the left. He called up the Rangers via an alarm, and the soldiers rushed up to the cockpit. ROB pointed at the radar.

"What the hell?" exclaimed Pigma. "Are those ships?" He took a swig from his canteen.

"God, I hope not," said Topher.

"ROB, increase the speed," ordered Edwards. "I'm not having a good feeling about this."

ROB obeyed, turning a knob on the dashboard. The ship accelerated and the Rangers held on whatever was bolted down. The signals started beeping faster and headed towards their location. They got bigger and bigger, until they took the shapes of thin triangles.

"Yeah, they're ships alright," said Edwards. "Men, man the turrets!" he ordered. Half of Star Fox ran downstairs to the lower level, half upstairs, and climbed aboard the individual turrets. These things were freaking humongous. They were about twice the size as all of them and required small ladders for them to climb up.

The Rangers scanned the area, looking for their targets. Suddenly, they heard a loud explosion and the floor vibrated beneath them. A ship flew above James's sight, and he fired the first shot. The fighter barrel-rolled out of the way. More came into view, and the Rangers fired away. They dodged them easily. These ships could really give Beltino Toad a run for his money.

While they were gunning down the hostiles, ROB piloted the ship. They were only a few space meters away from Titania. The fighters swooped from above, firing around the sides, where the turrets couldn't reach. He maneuvered out of the way whenever one of those ships tried to smash into the hull. These guys were crazy. Fearless, but crazy.

Topher managed to chip a fighter's wing off, effecting it's balance. It was still fast though, and he couldn't seem to finish the job. The Rangers kept struggling to take these guys down, right up to the point they reached Titania.

"Arwings, on the double!" barked Edwards, jumping off his turret. The Rangers followed suit. He quickly ran upstairs and gave the same order. Then he sprinted for the cockpit, telling ROB to try to hold them off. The robot nodded. The entire group marched to the hangar bay, climbing into their Arwings. ROB let the locks go, and they took off. The fighters immediately charged after them, firing everything they had. The transport followed, trying to pick off their targets. The Arwings zoomed straight into the desert planet. ROB kept the fighters busy long enough for Star Fox to reach the planet.

The Arwings plummeted down to the surface, right in the middle of nowhere. They climbed out, and the heat hit them like a baseball bat. Titania was not far away from the planet Solar, making this the second hottest planet in the Lylat System. It was furiously blazing all around them, and some of the Rangers couldn't help plopping down on the sand, sweat pouring out.

Pigma gulped down his canteen, leaving half of it behind. "Careful not to drink the whole thing, Dengar," said Lombardi. "We're not going to meet another relief group for about a week."

The team groaned, and even the C.O.'s couldn't help looking at their canteens without pouring the whole thing in their mouths. Edwards instructed the group to pull off any extra clothing they didn't need (padding under their pants, heavy armor, etc.) He decided it would be better to go with lighter armor.

"We'll stock back up when we get closer to the base," he said.

"When will that be?" asked Pigma.

"I'd say about a few days." He stared at his PDA, leaning against his Arwing.

James laid down on the burning desert sand, exhausted just from standing in the desert air. How in the hell was he going to live through this?

_To be continued..._


	17. Operation: Sandblast Pt 2

**Operation: Sandblast Pt. 2**

---------Titania---------

Hell started to kick in somewhere in the afternoon. Temperatures went up to 110 degrees, making the Rangers completely miserable. Their uniforms were drenched in sweat and they were too exhausted to notice the smell. They took sips from their canteens, but the boiling water inside didn't help much. The desert scenery spread all around. Everywhere as far as the eye can see, nothing but sand, sand dunes, cacti, tumbleweeds, you get the picture. Zoness was Disney Land compared to this place.

"Why can't we just, you know, land somewhere _closer _to our objective for once?" asked Pigma.

"Because we'd be landing right into their most heavily guarded areas," explained Lombardi. "These people always set up their heavy artillery closer to their bases. We landed right around the area outside all that."

The Rangers stopped at a gigantic sand dune to get some rest. A little radio David was carrying started playing "Dazed and Confused" by Led Zeppelin.

"What is that?" asked Pepper. David told him. "Turn it up louder."

_...You hurt and abuse, tellin' all of your lies.  
Run 'round sweet baby, lord, how they hypnotize._

_Sweet little baby I don't know where you been.  
Gonna' love you baby, here I come again..._

"That's pretty good," Pepper said. Everyone nodded in agreement. After the song was over, everyone's spirits were marginally better. Before they were horribly crushed again.

Out of nowhere, bullets whizzed by everyone's heads and the Rangers dropped down by the sand dune, trying to see where the enemy was. Half looked to the left, half to the right. Monroe looked around the top, prone position. He looked into his sights, zooming in. What he saw was the top of someone's head. He fired, and out came blood pouring out into the sand.

"Scratch one!" he yelled.

Edwards and a few others crawled around the right side of the dune, staying close to it. He pointed his gun and approached the other side slowly. He peeked around and saw several targets climbing up the side. Idiots. He fired at the climbers, watching them roll and tumble down the hill like barrels. More targets scurried towards their position, but the other Rangers blew them away instantly. Right before they were blown away.

Well, almost. A rocket fired from one of the enemies blew up a part of the dune above them, causing a giant avalanche of sand to pour down onto the Rangers. 

"Take cover!" Edwards yelled, pulling the others near him down into a prone position.

"Goddamn it! Where did that come from?" yelled Pepper.

"Hold on!" shouted Monroe, rolling down the dune. "I saw it coming from the left!" Another rocket blast, sending a ringing sound in everyone's ear. More sand rained down onto them.

"Think you can find him?" asked Edwards.

Monroe paused for a second, before another blast left a small crater near their position. "I'll try," he finally said.

Edwards nodded. "Okay. There's another sand dune over there that you can use for cover." He pointed over to the left side, where a smaller sand dune was in sight. Monroe nodded and crouched, getting ready for the run. 

"Covering fire!" Edwards yelled, followed by the sounds of ten automatic rifles. "Go!" he yelled, sending Monroe sprinting for the dune, staying as low as he can. Another blast, this time making a small crater damn near in front of them and making them damn near deaf.

The Private reached his objective, setting up his sniper. He laid prone position on the side of the dune, looking inside his scope. He could faintly see a tower, and up that tower must be the target. He checked around the bottom just to be sure, and focused on the top of the tower. There was a balcony near the top, and sure enough he saw a trail of smoke shoot out from that spot, blowing off another chunk of the other dune. He could barely see the guy, who seemed to be hiding behind a wall. Only his helmet was visible, and that wasn't good enough. He could try to shoot it off, making his target more vulnerable. But he didn't have a suppressor with him, and he'd be revealing himself in the process, and this dune wasn't exactly bullet-proof, let alone rocket-proof. No, he needed a clear shot, straight into his face.

Over on the other side, the other Rangers covered themselves from more blasts. A few minutes past, with no sign of any hostility.

"Did you get them?" asked Pigma on the radio

BAM! "There's your answer!" shouted Monroe. He took a quick look over at the other dune, seeing if they were alright, then shifted his focus back to the tower. The man was peeking over the top of the wall. Now was his chance! He fired.

_Shit!_ A rocket blew off the top of the dune. He missed, and now his target knew where he was. One more chance. The rocket man looked over the top again, and Monroe fired again. He saw the man topple off the tower and a flash coming from his weapon. "Oh God," he whispered, as he saw a rocket fly straight towards him as if in slow motion.

_30 minutes later..._

Edwards marked the dune for grave detail, despite the fact that there was nothing left of Monroe sans a burned upper body and a crater. He picked up the dead Private's sniper and walked off, with the rest of the team following. It was dead silence for most of the walk, only hearing gunfire from the distance and a few shouts from other units passing by, heading to whatever objective they had.

They kept going until they reached yet another sand dune. Late at night, they set up their camp. They dug into the sand, making a small cave for cover. They also dug 6 ½ feet deep fox holes for all of them in case of a suspected attack, spacing them out about ten feet away from each other. They used sand paper to cover them up.

"Man, I have to take a monster piss right now," said Pigma.

"Thanks for telling us, man..." said James.

---------Eladard---------

"**He must have pissed it out by now."  
**

"What?" asked Nice Guy.

"**The tracking device. It should still be signaling though. Send these coordinates over to Titania. Tell them to 'be creative.'"**

---------Titania---------

James rolled around uncomfortably in his sleeping bag. He was inside of it because now it was freezing. About 53 degrees, he guessed. He laid face-down on the fabric, thinking about what happened today. First MacDonald, now Monroe. Who next?

He got his answer when a gigantic explosion shook everyone awake. He looked in horror as he saw the remains of a body fly into the air. 

"EVERYBODY IN THEIR FOX HOLES!" screamed Edwards. "HURRY, GODDAMMIT!"

The Rangers ducked into their fox holes and covered the openings as bombs dropped onto their positions. James could hear airplanes zooming past, and the whistling sounds of the bombs falling. He covered his ears as multiple explosions shook the ground and his ear drums. The paper flew off, causing a downpour of sand to fall into his fox hole. He shut his eyes, still hearing more explosions. More sand poured into the hole as the ground quaked.

Silence. No bombs dropped. No explosions were heard. The ground didn't shake. He stayed in his fox hole, remembering that he had to stay in here for at least five minutes, in case more were coming.

Few minutes later: _"Squad, report in!" _yelled Edwards on the radio. He heard a few replies before he reported in himself. He climbed out. There were the others – or at least, most of them – crowded around Lombardi, whose legs were missing. He was screaming in pain, while Topher wrapped the stumps with dressing.

"You won't die, sir," he reassured the casualty. "You'll be okay."

James looked at the group, seeing who were still alive. Peppy, Pigma, Topher, Pepper, and Mat were helping Lombardi. Edwards was walking around, his head looking down. Hamill and Johnson were gone. He looked around the area, seeing craters all around. The sand dune wasn't a sand dune anymore, but looked more like melted ice cream. He sighed, kneeling down on the ground. This can't be happening. As of now, four of the group were dead, and the 1Lt. was completely crippled. That means almost half of the group was gone.

"We gotta get out of here," said Edwards, his sunglasses dripping. "There might be another attack."

They nodded, and Matt and Peppy carried the 1Lt. off, following the other Rangers. Jack Lombardi groaned.

_Early morning..._

"Jesus..." whispered a Sergeant from the Relief group. "We need to get him out of here fast."

"You're telling me," said the 1Lt silently. "What do you have to do to die around here?"

Edwards chuckled. "You'll be fine. Besides, your wife will need help taking care of your son."

Lombardi fell silent. "What?"

"Oh yeah..." He smiled. "You have a son now."

Jack laughed, punching the Major in the arm. "You bastard! How long have you known?"

"I just found out. Don't know the name yet."

"Goddamn! You guys gotta fucking get me home now!" he yelled, smiling widely.

"Yes sir!" said the Privates who carried him off. Edwards waved at the 1Lt., who was being boarded onto a transport for Corneria. He walked back to the group, who were stocking up on supplies and weapons. One new addition to their catalog were RPGs, which the relief group mentioned they were going to need badly. 

"How did he take it?" asked Pepper.

Edwards grinned. "You should have seen him. He was smiling wider than the Grand fucking Canyon."

Pepper nodded silently.

"Still recovering from last night, huh?" he asked, seeing the look in his eyes.

"Yeah. That was just...I dunno. I've never been in anything like that before."

Edwards nodded. "Neither have I. That was about the craziest fucking thing I've ever seen."

"How many have we lost now? Four?"

"Five, if you count Lombardi." He sighed, rubbing the brim on his glasses. "We'll rest for a while. It's been a long-ass night," he told the group.

The relief group walked away. James sighed, laying down on the ground. What the fuck was yesterday about? Three dead, one seriously injured. Might as well sleep it off, 'cause he was tired as hell. Edwards didn't say how long they were going to stay here, but he guessed an hour, which was more than enough time. He laid his RPG down beside him and rolled out a new sleeping bag, appreciating the smell of it. He slept on top of it this time. Afterwards, they headed off to their objective, which would take them a week to get through. The relief group informed them that the Titanian defenses were stronger than they thought, which was the reason for the RPGs. They mentioned tanks, land mines, bunkers, the works. They could hardly wait.

None of the usual banter littered the group like before. The silence was awkward and uncomfortable, but nobody wanted to break it. Not only were they devastated by the deaths of their team mates, but this desert heat really got to them. The cold water the relief group gave them didn't last, and they were once again sweating rivers. Swarms of bugs who seemed attracted to the smell annoyed and irritated the Rangers to no end. Mosquitoes were making lunches out of their bodies as they tried slapping them away. Wasps were flying by, which nobody bothered to wave away. After the bugs went away, they had lunch. Then more bugs came and ate more of their food than they did.

They continued until they reached a flat plain. This plain stretched ten miles, according to Edward's PDA. Pigma continued walking, but Edwards held him back.

"Hold on," he said, looking at the field suspiciously. He fired at the ground, setting off an explosion. "We're not going this way."

Not crossing this plain would add three more days to their week of traveling. But better safe than sorry.

_Five days later..._

The days passed by very slowly, which was especially tiring for the ones carrying the RPGs (James, Matt, and Pepper). It picked up slightly when they saw a unit trying to fight off opposing forces in an abandoned town, surrounded by a steel wall. To think people actually lived here boggled everyone's mind.

Edwards crouched towards five soldiers up against the wall. A rocket shell blew up another wall close by. Great. A tank.

"Who are you guys?" he asked the group. 

"We're the 73rd Airborne," a toad said. "I'm Major Hoffman."

_The Toads, _Edwards thought, trying not to laugh. "What happened here?"

The steel shook as another rocket blew up nearby. "You know how the Airborne drops its units in waves? Five guys at a time?" Edwards nodded. "The first wave got torn apart. We watched them as they were shot out of the fucking sky. Not one person made it. We were the second wave, and we landed three miles outside the city. The other eleven waves landed elsewhere. Now we're stuck here until we overtake this city."

"How many do you think there are?" asked Pepper.

"We're guessing fifty troopers. We outnumber them, but they have four tanks in there. We can't go against that."

"Don't you have RPGs?" asked Edwards.

"Our relief group was held back, so not yet. Looks like you're the lucky ones," he said, looking at James, Pepper, and Matt. "Who are you guys anyway?"

"2nd Ranger Battalion, or 'Star Fox,' if you want," said Edwards.

"Star Fox? Wow, better than 'The Toads.'" 

Edwards laughed. "We might as well help you guys out. We haven't seen any action for days." He turned towards the group. "RPGers, go around the area, see if you can find any good spots. The rest of you, we'll be giving the troopers some firing discipline."

They all nodded, and they split. James picked up his weapon and walked around the steel wall, trying to find any sort of openings or holes around. He finally found one that he could crawl under. He slid his RPG in first, and pulled himself underneath. The hole lead him inside a two story house. He walked upstairs, where he saw a ladder leading up to an attic. He lifted his RPG up and slid it onto the floor above him, trying to make as little noise as he could possibly can, in case somebody was up there. Then he climbed up the ladder and peaked his head up the opening. A sniper was standing on the ass end of a windowsill, looking out for targets. James, still holding onto the ladder, took out his pistol and aimed it at the head of the sniper. Seconds later, whoever was outside looking directly at this house would see a body topple out of the attic.

"_Report in, RPGers," _said Edwards on the radio.

"_West." _ He paused, looking over at the other houses. _"Third house."_

"_North, second building," _said Pepper.

"_North, alleyway," _said Matt.

James pulled himself up into the attic, looking outside the window. A tank was driving by slowly, the front facing towards him. He had to wait for the backside to come into view. As he watched the tank drive by, he heard footsteps down below. They must have seen the dead body outside. He put his RPG down and took out his pistol again. He backed up against a wall, aiming down at the opening. Three troopers were inspecting the area, yelling out for anyone to come out and show themselves. One tried to climb up the ladder, before he slid down it with blood pouring out of his head. The other two started firing like crazy up into the attic, blowing holes in the floor below him. A grenade flew into the air and landed near the edge of the opening. James kicked it back down before it could explode. He heard screams and footsteps before they were "silenced" by the grenade. When his hearing came back, he looked down and saw nothing but a giant black hole on the floor.

He picked his RPG up and saw that the tank was gone. _Goddammit! _He looked around, seeing nothing but a few troopers scattered around the town. Well, he might as well work on his aim while waiting for another tank to come by. He picked up the sniper left by the dead trooper, and got into prone position. The windowsill was a little to high for him to see out of, so he looked around for anything he could lie down on. Nothing too comfortable so it wouldn't distract him. He found a couple of large boards of wood, which was perfect. He laid a few down to fit his size, and stacked another layer on top. He laid down on it, and could see out of the window fine. He set up the sniper and looked into the scope.

More troopers were running by, some giving orders to others. There were too many around. He had to find one loner around so no one would notice. He widened the range to get a better view of the town, and finally saw one trooper walking along the rooftop of a building. He zoomed in on his target, waiting for him to stand still. After a few seconds, the trooper paused for a minute. James fired, sending a fountain of blood squirting out of his head. He looked down, seeing another tank driving by. Nobody noticed the dead one up on the roof. He threw his sniper to the side and picked up his RPG beside him. He got off his platform and crouched near the window. The tank was stopped, with a trooper popping his head out the hatch. Another one was giving him orders, with others surrounding him. Backside was facing towards him, so he took the shot.

A direct hit! The tank was reduced to a flaming piece of metal in a matter of seconds, and the troopers around it were incinerated instantly. Few minutes later, he saw the other Rangers and a couple of airborne soldiers sneaking by. He picked up his sniper again and got up on the platform into prone position. More enemies were rushing into the area, coming out of the houses. He took a few random shots at the crowd, killing a couple. They opened fire on the Cornerians, while James picked up the RPG.

_"Squad, report in again," _he said on the radio. _"I'm about to take a shot at this crowd."_

They began reporting in positions nowhere near the area he was looking at. With that, he fired a rocket at the crowd, bits and pieces of it flying into the air seconds later. "Yes!" he said silently.

Just then, he suddenly felt a sharp pain jolt into the back of his head. He gasped, his vision fading away. He rolled off the platform, groaning in pain. The last thing he saw was a faint outline of a crow looking over him...

_To be continued..._


	18. Operation: Sandblast Pt 3 Captured

**Operation: Sandblast Pt. 3 – Captured**

---------Unknown---------

The first thing I felt was my body dragging along a wet concrete ground. Large hands were gripped around my arms, giving me a stinging sensation in them. The hands thrusted me against a wall. I opened my eyes, seeing a gray room. My head throbbed with pain, but I could live. I looked down at myself and winced. My uniform was gone, leaving only rags they must have wrapped around me. My weapons, dog tag, and everything else I had on me were confiscated. On my left and right, there was a bloodhound and a humanoid in yellow uniform. The hound was about 6'3'', with red fur and a few gray spots around. His eyes were dull and void of any emotion. A name tag on his shirt said Corporal Pico. The human was about 6'1'', with black hair and a beard covering his face. He was missing his right eye. Name tag said Private Stewart. Not exactly the most handsome couple in the universe. A crow walked into the room, wearing the same uniform. He was 6'3'', with black fur and a long beak as sharp as a knife. His name tag said Major. Gorah. He picked up my chin and scoffed.

"What's your name, son?"

I might as well tell him. They had my dog tag. "James Fox McCloud."

"And what unit are you part of?"

"2nd Ranger Battalion."

"Hmm... What a coincidence. We're Rangers too," Gorah said with a smile.

"That so?"

"Yep. We're 1st Battalion of the Eladardian army."

"Really?" I replied with no care.

"Eladard? You must have heard of it."

These guys must have been the ones attacking our ship before we landed on Titania. "What do you guys want me for?"

"Oh, nothing really. We don't need any information right now." He walked away. "Throw him in Cell # 666."

Cell # 666. I rolled my eyes as the bloodhound and the human picked me up and dragged me out of the room. They carried me off as if I were some piece of meat tied to some string. I bit my tongue as my knees started scrapping on the ground. They lead me into a hallway, where there were long lines of holding cells. I saw the Cornerian soldiers inside, some dead, some beyond that. I knew I was going to end up like them, but I didn't want to think of that. As they dragged me along, I could've sworn I saw Topher Phoenix in one of the cells.

We finally reached my cell, which was a relief for my knees, but not for my head. They threw me in head first, like a sack of rice. This made me fly straight into a brick wall, giving me the feeling that someone dropped a three ton anvil on me. I groaned as they tied my hands together behind my back and my legs together with rope. They shut the door and locked me in. Cpl. Pico walked away, while Pvt. Stewart stood guard outside my cell.

Well, I never thought this would ever happen to me. I'm a prisoner of war. Every soldier's nightmare. So what was I supposed to do? They were probably going to torture me senseless everyday for no reason. I can't imagine what the meals would be like. Not to mention their toilets. Hell, they'll probably treat their toilets better than me.

I could already tell I was going to have a _fun _time here...

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

A week has gone by. I know that, because they always bring me bowls of cold, soggy rice and water every twelve hours. Mealtime is a pleasant experience, seeing as how my hands are still tied behind me. I get to lap it into my mouth like a dog. Then they unlock the door and carry me out to the john for ten minutes. If I don't have to go when it's time, tough luck. If I have to go when it's not time, tough luck. I'm just glad that doesn't happen often. My rags are stained from when I can't hold it in, but compared to the other cells I've seen, it's not so bad.

They don't seem to be doing any torture to anyone. So why are they keeping us alive? They don't need any information from us, they said. Is it just pleasurable to them to see us roll around in our cells like strangled puppies? I think I just answered my own question. Still, it seems a little strange that they would just leave us in here and not do anything to us besides watching us piss ourselves.

Ain't this the life?

Maybe it just amuses them. Hmm, can't blame them. I know it would amuse me to see my enemies in the shape we're in right now. Who wouldn't be amused to see their enemies in agonizing pain? Then again, I barely knew these people. Now why should I hold a grudge against people I didn't know?

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The man in the cell across from me just died today. And they don't even bother to take out the body. They leave it there for the rats to eat up. Oh yeah, I haven't even mentioned the rats. They come and they go as they please, crawling around into the cells. My cell has a whole rat family living inside, crawling all over my body. They never take bites out of me (thank God) but they still annoy me to no end. They treat their fucking rats better than us. More food for them. Anyway, that man across from me, I never knew. We aren't allowed to talk in here, so everyone's just a stranger to me. He wasn't a large man. About 5'9'', I'm guessing. He was very skinny, which wasn't surprising. I wonder how long he's been in there.

Great, now the ceiling is leaking. Some sort of murky brown water was dripping onto me. Whenever I tried to squirm around, the water seems to try to follow me. I tried rolling to the side, and that's when my right leg completely gave out. I don't know what the hell happened. Just all of the sudden, my leg practically dies. I bet if someone stuck a knife through it, I wouldn't feel a thing. I sighed, giving it up. I laid there as someone else's shit drips on me.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I was wrong about how they weren't torturing us. Just being in this cell, cold, alone, and wet is torture enough. My back was starting to hurt from my arms being tied behind like this. It especially ached whenever they picked me up for my daily crap. My stomach hurt from malnutrition. My leg still felt like a stump. I was in pretty bad shape. Not to mention being here for... I lost count of the days. I was beginning to think about Vixy a lot. How was she doing? Did she even care if I was alive or not? Would I ever see her again? I also thought about Star Fox. Are they still alive? Are they coming to get me? That last thought was highly unlikely. It didn't hurt to dream, did it?

They threw in my meal, which I didn't want to touch. Next came the water. I decided to just go with the water. As I crawled over to the bowl and started licking away, I saw a large bug crawl into the bowl. I backed away, spitting the remains of the water out. I groaned, and tried not to remind myself that I was going to die here. Just like that man across from me, I was going to die. They were going to leave me in this cell for the rat's daily meals. I was right on the edge of giving up all hope.

---------Titania---------

"Star Fox, huh? So you finally have a name," said Captain Ramsey, from the 1st Ranger Battalion. "Anyway, we have reports on a large prison near the base back on Titania. Otherwise, I don't really know where they would be. Who did they take?"

"They took Pvt. McCloud and Pvt. Phoenix," said Edwards. "Right after we helped the 73rd Airborne overtake their town. Two and a half months ago."

"Oh yeah, was that successful?"

"All in all, I guess," said Major Hoffman. "What about The One Eyed Ogre? What's the news on him?"

"He fled. The base was in sight, and then we saw a ship coming out of the base, flying away," explained Pepper.

"We tried shooting it down from our Arwings, but it somehow disappeared," said Ramsey. "Looked like it warped out of the sky or something. Must've been an invention of Andross's."

"Wow. Why did it take so long for you guys to get to the base?"

"Side trips," said Edwards. "Lots and lots of side trips. We were supposed to reach the place within a week, but all the side trips we were on lead us in the opposite direction of the base. I'm telling you, Colonal Dierker can be a fucking dick sometimes. I don't think he even cares about the objective."

"How about back at home? Is General Miller okay?"

Pepper sighed. "He's not in the greatest shape. That bullet practically 'scratched' his heart. The reports show damage to the sides. If you ask me, I don't think he going to make it."

"Damn. They caught the assassin though, right?"

"Yeah, they did," said Ramsey. "Bowman, I think he's called. Bastard."

"Huh. So how's your crew?"

"All good. Desert heat hasn't got to them much," said Ramsey.

"Yeah, same with mine," said Hoffman.

"They're okay," said Edwards. "Well, except for one of them." Pepper nodded.

"What are you talking about?" asked Ramsey.

"Pvt. Dengar," said Pepper. "He's been acting very bitchy this past month. Whining about the heat, the war, the list goes on. He even threatened us with his pistol. Pvt. Hare had to knock him out with the butt of his gun."

"Wow. Think he needs to be relieved?" asked Hoffman.

"I don't know if I would go that far," said Edwards. "Just needs to get out of this place. We're leaving in an hour, so that's good."

"So where are you guys heading?"

"We're going to Macbeth," said Edwards. "A ship was sighted 'warping' out into the planet. Wonder who that could be. You?"

"We're going to check out the base for some important information. We might also take a look at that prison you mentioned, Ramsey."

"Keep a look out for our boys. Here are pictures of them." Edwards showed Hoffman on his PDA pictures of James and Topher. "McCloud is about 6'1'', Phoenix is around 5'11''."

"Gotcha. We'll keep a look out."

---------Cell # 666---------

Stewart opened the cell door and carried me off to the john. My knee was used to the scraping, but it still hurt like a fucker. Well, my left leg at least. He threw me inside the bathroom and locked it. I sighed, looking at the toilet. I was used to how dirty it was, and I just didn't care. I sat down and started doing my business. As I was doing that, I started hearing some whining voices in the background. This was routine, as new prisoners were taken in everyday. I didn't remember if I did that or not. The whining. Well, I must have looked like a pansy if I did. Then again, I looked like a pansy destroying that bathroom back in the Transport. We should have given that thing a name or something. Something relevant to our team name. Something like...the Great Fox, maybe. Oh well. It's not like I'll ever see that ship again, or it's passengers. I tried ignoring the whining, as it was annoying me. Then came a sound I couldn't ignore.

I heard an artillery shell explode nearby, muffling my hearing. I finished up and opened the door sightly. My hearing came back, immediately picking up gunfire close by. I shut the door quickly. A knock was heard, followed by "This is Major Hoffman! Who's in here?"

Hoffman? I knew that name. "73rd Airborne?" I squeaked. Hey, I haven't talked in a while.

"Yes! Who is this?"

"Pvt... James McCloud of the 2nd... Ranger Battalion," I replied, my throat hurting.

"Okay, come on out." I opened the door and limped out, seeing on the floor Pvt. Stewart sans head. I looked up and saw Hoffman. "Jesus!" he shouted, looking surprised at my appearance. "Medic, over here!" A medic ran over, and sat me down. He gave me _clean_ water. I told him about my leg, and he started inspecting it. "How many are in here? Do you know?"

"Well, I was in Cell # 666, so I can't imagine..."

"Hot damn! Men, we're going to be here for a while."

---------Titania---------

Well, that was something I didn't plan on experiencing again. It was late at night, and the cold was pleasing. Gorah, Pico and a few others were carried out, handcuffed and on the ground. I couldn't help but laugh at how pathetic they looked. The medic started handing out food to the hundred or so survivers. Topher Phoenix was found dead in his cell. I looked sadly as they marked his and the hundreds of other bodies for grave detail. Then I walked up to the Major and thanked him. "So what happened while we were in there?"

"Oh, you have no idea..." He started telling everyone what has happened in the past few months, including the escape of The One Eyed Ogre, and Colonel Dierker being shot and killed only a few hours ago. Long story short, Operation Sandblast failed. "And, um, one more thing." The attempted murder of General Miller. I heard about that one. Gorah and his men were talking about it near my cell.

"How is he?" someone asked.

Hoffman paused for a minute. "He died this morning."

The group was silent, only to be broken by the giggling from Pico. A soldier kicked him in the head, shutting him up and knocking him out.

"So now what?" I asked.

"We're looking for a new General, and the Rangers are going to Macbeth to get the Ogre and Fancy Pants. Which means you're heading for Macbeth," he said, pointing to me.

_To be continued..._


	19. Operation: LiveLong Day

**Operation: Live–Long Day**

---------Eladard---------

"**The Ogre got away?"**

"Yeah, he reached Macbeth this morning," said Eddie. "He's staying in Fancy Pants' Base of Operations. We also, um..." He paused for a second.

**"Yeah, I heard about the prison," **said Andross, emotionless. **"Did our Rangers get out?"**

"Most of them did. About nine of them were captured."

Andross nodded, not seeming to care. **"Our Rangers are not as good as I thought they would be. Nor are our other soldiers. Who's in charge of training?"**

Eddie paused. "Um, I am sir," he said slowly.

Andross looked at Nice Guy, realizing what he had to do now. **"Hmm. Well, let's get a new batch up and ready soon. No need to get those other guys back."**

Eddie seemed relieved. "Okay. I'll look over the list." He started walking away, before he fell to the ground, pieces of his head splattered over the floor. Andross got up from his desk, putting down his pistol. He called up a janitor to clean this mess up.

"**Tsk tsk tsk," **he said, looking at the dead falcon.

---------Macbeth---------

"Good to see you back, McCloud," said Pepper. "It's a damn shame Phoenix couldn't be here too."

James nodded, who was now a Corporal, and had a Prisoner of War medal. The group was hiding in a vacant building, where he was quickly briefed on the first objective of Operation: Live–Long Day, which was a train station south of their position. This entire planet depended on their railroad system. If you were going to get anywhere on this planet, the trains were the only way. Their objective was to catch a train headed for Fancy Pants' Base of Operations. This mission was going to be a lot more stealthier than before, as they were only carrying pistols. Before James arrived here, Star Fox managed to steal various worker uniforms from a few locker rooms (they had two extras in case James or Topher managed to escape; in this case, they only had one left). Beltino Toad managed to forge fake IDs for all of them, which were sent here a few hours ago.

They were going to hitch a ride to the base disguised as workers, with Edwards carrying a briefcase. Inside the briefcase is a dismantled bomb. If questioned, Edwards will say it's spare parts for the Research Director of the Macbethian Defenses to look at. When they reach the base, he will put the bomb together and arm it. They'll blow a hole into any wall, and the 73rd Airborne, joined by the 1st Ranger Battalion, will be dropping out of the sky into the combat zone. They'll be shooting away at the defenses while Star Fox finds the Ogre and Fancy Pants. Complicated, but Edwards is sure it'll work.

Pepper also mentioned Pigma's odd behavior, which also explained why he wasn't there with the group. James was astounded that his friend would act that way. He knew war changed people, but he didn't know it could change people _that _much. Pepper even said that Pigma tried _biting _Matt in the arm. So the swine had been discharged of his duties, and he'll be spending a year in rehab. A lot of crap has happened while he was gone.

They walked to the train station, where there were crowds of people waiting for their trains. The train they had to go on wasn't due for another thirty minutes, so they spent that time eating at a restaurant nearby. It felt strange for them just sitting there, eating casually in a restaurant on their enemy's own soil. They couldn't let that show, however. The uniforms weren't enough to cover them up. They had to act normal and talk like regular Joes. They couldn't let the awkwardness show at all. But it was hard to have a normal conversation. Twelve guys in the group now down to five. It was hard to get used to the fact that more than half of the group was gone.

They didn't show it, but everyone was relieved when the train finally arrived. They showed their identification and Edwards explained what was inside the briefcase. The Rangers and the other unsuspecting workers stepped onto the train, which was surprisingly luxurious. The seats were comfy, the cars were roomy, and they had two vending machine per car. How the hell they could put a dozen vending machine inside a fucking train, I don't know. But there was. Everybody, including the Rangers, started getting drinks from them and started conversing with each other. Just as before, they didn't let any awkwardness show through. It must have been quite an amusing experience for them. Casually talking to the enemy. What next?

---------Eladard---------

"**Name and location," **said Andross over the phone.

"Dengar, Pigma. I'm calling from the Cornerian Rehab center."

"**Yes, I read your report. Biting a team member, huh?" **he said, with a smile.

"Um, tried to, actually. But I left before they briefed me on the objective."

"**Yes, that is disappointing. But I have other uses for you."**

"So what should I do now?" asked Pigma.

"**Just hold on. I'll think of something." ** He hung up the phone.

---------Macbeth---------

The Rangers walked off the train after a half-hour trip. It was nighttime and that worked to their advantage. The other workers went off to do whatever job they had, while they strolled over to the base. They all went inside, with Edwards walking into the bathroom. He went inside a stall and opened up the briefcase, revealing the dismantled bomb. He started piecing it together. After he was done, he flushed the toilet to fool anybody outside. He put the bomb back into the briefcase and walked over to the sink, where there were a couple of workers washing their hands or using the urinals. He washed his hands and walked back outside the building with the briefcase.

"_Squad, report in," _said Edwards quietly.

James: _"East, 500 Hallway."_

Pepper: _"North Armory, 200 Hallway."_

Matt: _"North Armory, 200 Hallway."_

Peppy: _"West Storage Room, 700 Hallway."_

"_Roger," _replied the Major. _"See if you can find our targets and try to follow them."_ He started walking around the building, not worrying about anybody seeing him. He found a place close to a hilltop, where the 73rd Airborne and the 1st Battalion will land. He started setting up the bomb, setting the time for ten minutes. That should be enough time for them to parachute down here, and for his Rangers to find their targets.

Meanwhile, James definitely found his target. The description he was given of Fancy Pants was a white wolf. And he found a white wolf walking out of the bathroom. The only white wolf in the building. _So this was O'Donnell. _He kept his anger in this time, but he was surprised to find his fingernails stabbed into his palm. He shook the pain off and started following the wolf to wherever he was going.

"_Target in sight," _he whispered. _"East, 500 Hallway."_

Pepper started loading up bags of weapons and other useful items for the rest of the team. Matt kept a lookout, in case somebody were walking by. Nope, this hallway was empty. The Lieutenant loaded up the last of the supplies and zipped the bag closed. They walked out of the armory and proceeded down the hallway.

Peppy walked out of the storage room, finding nothing of significance in there. As he walked out, a chameleon walked right past him. He noticed that the chameleon also had a glass eye. _The One Eyed Ogre, _thought Peppy.

"_Northwest, 700 Hallway. I found the Ogre," _he whispered.

"Let's go," Pepper said to Matt. "It's almost time."

Edwards looked at the bomb. One minute. He looked back at the hill, where he saw a few figures running down.

"_We're here," _said Captain Ramsey on the radio.

"_Blowing the doors in thirty seconds," _said Edwards. _"Don't fire at anyone wearing a blue uniform."_ He ran for the entrance and slowed down his pace once he saw the workers. He strolled along casually, counting the seconds in his head. _Should be right about..._

**BAM!**

..._now._

Edwards put on his panicked expression, joining the workers around him, who were going insane. He heard gun fire from the distance and yells and screams. He ran inside the building, pushing through the crowd. He kept his hand in his pocket, on his pistol.

The wolf finally turned back, looking confused. Realizing the base was being attacked, he tried to run away, before he felt somebody press a gun against his head.

"Down on the ground," the voice said. He obeyed, while James started to handcuff him.

The workers started pushing each other out of the way, trying to get out of the building. The fire alarm went off, followed by a spray of cold water. James kept the gun at the wolf's head, while shutting his eyes from the water. He looked back and saw Pepper and Matt running towards him.

"I have Fancy Pants right here," said James.

"Good, but we better hide him. Troopers just entered the building," said Matt.

They lead James to a corridor close to the entrance, so he could extract easier.

"Here, take these," said Pepper, opening the bag he was carrying.

"Holy shit!" exclaimed James, looking at the contents of the bag.

"Yeah, we got more than enough ammo. But look at this." Pepper pulled out a large machine gun that looked more like a computer with a large rod sticking out. "This thing is supposed to be programmed to fire only at people wearing a Cornerian uniform. But we can use these against him."

They smiled. "Right. How many do we have?"

"Five. We can set two up here, two where Peppy is at, and one at the entrance. They won't fire at the workers or our soldiers. Only at them."

"Okay then. So what should I do now?"

"We'll find the others. You stay here and guard this guy. Or you can just take a rest, because you won't have to do much," said Pepper, looking at the machine guns.

James smiled. "Okay. So how do these work? Just stick them on the wall?"

"Yep. But here, in case they malfunction." The Lt. handed him a rifle, ammunition, some grenades, and body armor.

They went off, while James started sticking the two machine guns up on the walls. The wolf groaned.

"Had fun with Vixy?" asked James, pulling off the cover on the adhesives.

"Fuck you," said O'Donnell. After he stuck the weapon on the wall, James took his rifle and slammed it into the wolf's head.

"Damn, that felt good," he said to himself as he loaded a clip of ammunition into his rifle. He slipped on the body armor and entered a storage room, dragging the unconscious body near it so he could see it easily. He took some boxes out of the room and slipped it underneath so he wouldn't drown (although he wouldn't mind). After all that was done, he sat inside the storage room, keeping the door open. 

_"Squad, report in," _said Edwards on the radio.

"_North Storage Room, 200 Hallway with Fancy Pants," _said James.

Peppy: _"Southwest Bathroom, 100 Hallway with the Ogre."_

Matt: _"Southwest Bathroom, 100 Hallway."_

Pepper: _"Main Entrance."_

"_Look out Corporal. Troopers coming your way," _said Matt.

"_Right. And could somebody shut the fucking water off?" _asked James.

_---------_Cornerian Rehab Center---------

Clean shaved and washed, Dr. Ryan Bailey still didn't look like the healthiest guy around. But he did look unrecognizable, and that's all he was aiming for. He wasn't the kind of person who would wash everyday. Far from it. He gave the security guard an I.D., saying that he was a doctor who needed to see a Pigma Dengar. The security guard gave the card back and unlocked the door. There was very high security here, seeing that the door was lined with lasers, there were thousands of security guards, and cameras spread across the walls. Even the clipboard he was carrying had to be checked. Patients in here must have been more mentally fucked up than he thought.

He entered a hallway, where he asked another security guard for the room containing his patient. The guard pointed to the left, saying he was in room 508. Bailey walked the direction the guard pointed and found the room just at the end. He noticed the door had a standard lock that you would open with a key. Strange, but he guessed it made sense. Couldn't expect them to put laser locks on _every _single room. He entered the room, where he saw Mr. Dengar sitting at a table. The room was what you would expect; white walls, no furniture of any kind aside from the table and chairs, and a sort of faint echo effect. He looked at the corners and saw a camera pointed at the door.

"So how are you doing, Mr. Dengar?" asked Bailey. He took out a sheet of paper and a pencil out of his pocket and stuck it onto the clipboard.

"I'm doing just fine," said Pigma. "And you are?"

"I'm Dr. Bailey. You seem very calm. What are you in here for?"

Pigma laughed. "Biting a team member. See, I just came back from the war..."

"Oh. So you just came back from...Titania, I'm thinking?"

"Yes. I was part of the 2nd Ranger Battalion."

Bailey widened his eyes. "Very impressive. So you were a good soldier then?" He started writing on the sheet of paper.

"I guess you could say that. But I just had to get out of there, you know? You don't know what it's like to live out on a fucking desert for weeks. Fighting over something we didn't do. Where the hell did that bomb come from anyway?"

"I have no idea. But I know what you mean. Why fight for nothing?" 

Pigma nodded. "Exactly. So I just wanted to get out of there, even if it means ending up in here."

"I understand." He wrote some more notes down on the paper. "So about you biting that, um..."

"He was a private. Lynx was his name."

"Oh. So this Lynx. Was there any reason you bit him in particular?"

"Uh... no, not really. I never really had anything against him. It didn't really matter to me."

"Mmm hmm. So I'm guessing you didn't feel any amusement as you were biting him?"

"Well..." Pigma paused for a minute.

Bailey looked up from his clipboard, at the swine. "Go on."

"I actually kind of did," said Pigma, a smile creeping onto his face. "Just seeing him yipe like that. I almost cracked up at that point."

"What about your other team mates? What were there reactions?"

"Well, pissed. Shocked, surprised. Especially one friend of mine. I used to work with him on the police force."

"What was his name?"

"He was..." Pigma rubbed his head, forgetting the name for about a second. "Oh yeah! Peppy Hare, that was it."

Bailey proceeded to write on the paper. "I noticed you paused on the name..."

"Yeah, I almost forgot his name. Jeez..." He rubbed his head again.

"Uh huh..."

"There was another person I knew well on the police force. He must be dead now. Um... James McCloud or something like that."

"'Or something like that?'"

"Yeah, my mind's a little fuzzy right now."

"Hmm... So what do you mean 'he must be dead?'" asked Bailey.

"Well, he got captured a month before I got sent here. He must be still in that prison."

"Oh, haven't you heard? They released the prisoners from someplace in Titania. This James must have been part of that group."

Pigma looked surprised, but merely nodded. "Wow. That's good to hear."

Bailey seemed puzzled. "You don't look too thrilled. Didn't you say you knew this person well?"

"Well, yeah. Jimmy, Peppy and I were very good friends. But once we landed on Titania... I dunno. Something just happened to me. I felt like I wanted to pull away from the group."

"Really? Was there a fight? Something that would've driven you apart?"

Pigma thought for a moment. "No. None that I could think of. I just... I can't explain."

"I see." Bailey kept on writing.

"What are you writing on there anyway?" asked Pigma.

"Just a few things I would suggest to help you out," he explained. He checked his watch and got up. "And it looks like my time is up."

"Okay then. So what's on this paper?" he asked.

Bailey slipped the paper out of the clipboard and handed it to him. He dropped a paper clip on the table, but left it there. "Just a few things that'll help you, er... _shorten _your term here."

"Alright. So I'll be seeing you again, I'm guessing?"

"In a way, yes," he said, walking out of the room.

Pigma looked at him strangely as he closed the door behind him. _What did he mean by that?_ He looked at the paper, suddenly understanding the meaning of _shortening _his term here.

It was a map of the building. And Bailey's "notes" on the back...

_I will be coming here again at 1:00 a.m. sharp to help you escape. I planted a cell phone and some more useful items behind a toilet in the restroom across. I know all the routes and all the security here, and I will be erasing this off your record. It'll be like you were never here. And I assume you know how to lockpick?..._

---------Macbeth---------

"_Thank you," _said James, as the water slowly reduced to a slight drizzle. Now he could hear any footsteps approaching his position – especially since there was at least a meter of water all around. He changed into a crouching position, trying not to make any noise. Hearing multiple splashes coming his way, he picked up his rifle and aimed it outside the door. Not that he was going to use it. Screams and shouts were heard as the machine guns started firing. They used regular bullets instead of lasers, but it was good enough. He saw blood seep through the water and bodies floated through. The machine guns stopped for a while before starting up again. The bodies kept piling up one by one. Finally the machine guns stopped firing. They must have taken cover. Just to be sure, he took two grenades and threw them on each side, far enough so his hostage wouldn't be harmed. They blew up, splashing water and blood all over the walls.

"_McCloud, come in," _said Pepper.

"_Yes sir?" _asked James.

_  
"We're just about ready to leave. Take Fancy Pants and get out of there. Peppy, you too."_

"_Yes sir," _James and Peppy both said. He looked out of the closet, seeing if it was clear. O'Donnell groaned in pain, before James kicked him in the back of the head. He scooped up the body and headed out, stepping over the other bodies. He hung the body over his shoulders and ran for it. The entrance was nearby, with the machine gun blasting away. He saw the glass doors, or what were glass doors. What was left were shards of broken glass and hollow frames. The machine guns stopped suddenly. The area was clear.

"James! Over here!" shouted Peppy, who was carrying the Ogre. He was outside already, looking down in horror. 

"What is it?" asked James. He ran outside, dropping the body on the ground as he saw what had happened in horror.

Edwards was being carried by Pepper, his chest bursting with blood. The group huddled around the injured Major, saying things like "Are you okay?", "Oh Jesus," and "Fuck..."

"Now what?" asked Matt.

"If he dies, 2nd Ranger Battalion is done," said Pepper. Dead silence. "We'd better get these guys to Corneria."

James and Peppy picked up their hostages and they all ran off to the extraction point. They could already see the Transport on top of the hill, along with others which the 73rd and the 1st were on. ROB-32 was outside, saying in a mechanical voice to hurry and climb aboard.

"ROB-32?" asked James, puzzled.

"Yeah, I know," said Matt. "Nice upgrade, right?"

Once they all climbed aboard, ROB shut the hangar door.

"Is the ship okay ROB," asked Pepper. "Took quite a beating up there."

"_Yes sir," _replied ROB. _"The ship has been repaired and is fully functional." _The robot looked down at the Major, groaning in pain. _"What has happened to Major Edwards?"_

"He's been shot. Think you can take care of him? I'll drive."

"_Of course. Right this way." _The robot lead the group to the mess hall. There was no first aid room in the ship, but there were a shitload of medical supplies stored in every room.

"Grab some blankets men," said Pepper. James, Peppy, and Matt scurried over to their bedrooms and grabbed all the extra blankets and pillows previously used by their now dead comrades. They ran back to the kitchen and laid them down onto the table. Pepper set Edwards down on top. His sunglasses slipped off, revealing his eyes. James realized this was the first time he had ever seen the Major with his sunglasses off. ROB started wrapping dressing around Edwards, before noticing the body went limp. Their hearts jumped, and Pepper rushing to his side to check his pulse. He sighed in relief. "He's just unconscious."

James yawned and rubbed his head. He hasn't gotten any sleep ever since he was rescued. But now, he feels as though he doesn't want to sleep at all. He looked over at the table, and saw a letter. They had his name on it, and automatically he knew where they were from.

"Oh yeah. Forgot to tell you about that," said Peppy.

James smiled, taking the letters. "When were they sent?"

"Right after you were rescued. She must have heard of that little incident."

_Wow..._ thought James. She must have been worried sick. And after he read the letter, he was right. Here he was, thinking she didn't care about him, and then he gets this letter. What really boggled his mind were the last three words. Three words he thought he would never hear again after his mom died.

I think you can guess what those three words were. Here's a hint: hearts.

_To be continued..._


	20. 2nd Ranger Battalion: Deactivated

**2nd Ranger Battalion: Deactivated**

---------Transport--------

James got up from his bunk and immediately went over to the kitchen. The Major was still there, with ROB still working on him. He sighed and went back into the sleeping quarters, getting dressed into his uniform. He woke Peppy and Matt up and he went inside the bathroom to clean up a bit. He laughed at himself, remembering what he did to this place before. It was fixed up now, but he could still remember smashing everything in this room to bits. He could also remember Edwards trying to calm him down. The amusement faded away. He really hoped the Major wouldn't die.

James looked in the mirror, seeing himself for the first time in a long time. He was noticeably skinnier, and his face looked thinner. He must have lost about thirty pounds. How he had managed to carry that hostage all that time, he had no idea. He splashed some cold water on his face and went outside again, where Peppy was getting dressed and Matt was still trying to get out of his bed.

"Did you ever find out what happened to that bathroom?" asked James, keeping a straight face.

"No, actually. We never did," said Peppy. "How's the Major?"

"You didn't see him? He looks terrible."

Matt sighed, rolling off the sheets. "Do you think he's gonna die?"

James paused for a moment. "I don't want to answer that." He went into the kitchen again, walking over to ROB. "How is he?"

"_Do you want the truth?" _asked the robot.

"Um... never mind." He sighed, knowing what that probably meant. Then he walked into the storage room, looking at the hostages. They were both drugged, so they would be out for another few hours.

James went over to the cockpit, where Pepper was reading the newspaper. "You're awake already? It's only been three hours."

"How long until we get to Corneria?" asked James. 

"We're almost there. Maybe an hour." Pepper replied.

---------Cornerian Rehab Center---------

1:00 a.m. Pigma picked up the map and the paper clip Bailey dropped behind and started working on the door. Bailey said all the cameras in the building should be shut off by now, and he hoped he was right. He didn't even know if he should trust this guy, but he was willing to do anything right now. It took him five minutes to unlock the door, and he opened it slowly. Guards were asleep. He crawled for the restroom and pulled the door slightly. It was dark, therefore nobody was inside. He pulled the door wide open and flicked on the light switch, seeing only one stall and a few urinals. Pigma went inside the stall and looked around the toilet. A box was stuck right down in a gap near the bottom. He pulled it out and opened it. The cell phone was there, along with a wireless ear piece, a pistol and a suppressor, night vision, and black clothing.

Pigma switched on the cell phone and slipped the ear piece on. He slipped on the black jacket, and he already had dark pants on. He was halfway done buttoning it up before a loud, obnoxious ring tone made him jump in the air. He quickly switched the phone to vibrate and answered the call.

"Yeah?" he whispered

_"This is Pigma, right?"_ It was Bailey.

"Yes. What now?"

_"Do you have the clothes on?"_

"Yes I do. How the hell did you get this through security?"

"_No time for that now. I deactivated the cameras, but they will only stay deactivated for an hour. You have an hour before they turn back on."_

"Okay."

"_You have the map?"_

"Yes."  
_  
"Okay. I marked the quickest routes you should take and which spots I think security is the strongest. I'll be outside waiting for you." _Dial tone.

---------Transport---------

James looked at the Major, realizing what was happening. ROB didn't show any emotion, but James could tell what that robot knew. He looked back down at Edwards, who slowly inched arm towards his sunglasses on the table. James picked it up and put it in his hand, but Edwards pushed it away. _What? _Edwards was giving it to him. James nodded slowly, putting the sunglasses in his pocket.

"You...still owe me a race..." said Edwards weakly.

The others ran in, almost sensing that something was wrong. And they were right. They huddled around the table. Edwards looked up slowly at the group, his eyes more bloodshot than before, his entire body limp. He stayed that way. ROB paused for a moment, before looking at the Rangers. _"I am sorry to bring you this news, but..."_

"It's alright, ROB. You don't have to tell us," said Pepper, rubbing his eyes.

---------Cornerian Army Naval Base---------

_Twenty minutes later..._

They stepped off the Transport, carrying the body in a casket. Hundreds of people crowded alongside the runway, with the police backing them away. Once they heard the news that Major James Edwards was dead, they were probably rushing over here to snap a shot of the dead body. It was early morning, and they're already swarming the streets. Paparazzi is paparazzi. Peppy and Matt were carrying the hostages and James and Pepper were carrying the casket over to the back entrance, where the Research Director was standing. After the General was assassinated, Beltino has taken the liberty of temporarily watching over the government.

"Oh my..." he said. "I see you have the hostages... and..."

"Yeah." said Pepper.

Beltino sighed. "We'll need to assign you to new regiments."

Two soldiers came up and took the casket away. Then the former Rangers went inside the Naval Base with their hostages.

"Set them down in the interrogation room," said Beltino, pointing to Room 502. Peppy and Matt did, and then they all went to the main control room, where the computer geeks were working on their assignments.

"Now let's see where we can put you. Unless any of you are considering running for General?"

"What?" asked Pepper.

"We're asking people who have been in the army for more than five years. Any of you?"

"Well, I've been in the army for six," said Pepper. "But I don't know about General..."

"Why not?" asked Beltino. "We need more people to run. I certainly can't do this any longer."

Pepper paused, with the others looking. "I'll think about it," he finally said.

"Okay. I'll give you three days to think this over. That's when you will be shipping out." Pepper nodded, wondering what he just got himself into. "Now the rest of you. I'll check to see where I can put you. For now, you have three days off."

Good. The group seriously needed the rest. James knew where he was going next...

---------1903 Napa Suwe Ln.---------

Since she couldn't pay for the gigantic bills for her old home, Vixy moved into a smaller, cheaper house on the same lane. James told Vixy everything that has happened for the past year. The deaths, the battles, the prison, and finally the ending. She was shocked and saddened to hear about the death of Edwards, even though she heard it everywhere on television, radio, newspaper, etc. Even at this early in the morning, the paparazzi was still at large.

"I just didn't want to believe it," she said quietly.

James nodded. He pulled out the sunglasses out from his pocket. "I don't know what I'll do with these. I don't think wearing them would be right. Do you want them?"

"No. I can't take them." They were silent for a while. "How long are you staying?"

"Three days. I don't think that's fair to everyone else still in wherever they are."

"But I'm glad you're here," she said, putting her arms around him and laying her head on his shoulder. James smiled.

"Aren't you tired? It's 3:00 a.m."

"Why are you asking me?" She was right. He was getting drowsy, his eyes getting heavy. And her stroking his head wasn't helping either. Finally, he succumbed to the sleepiness, and fell on the couch.

---------Cornerian Rehab Center---------

When you think "escape," you probably think about guards trampling through hallways chasing after the criminal, alarms blaring madly, guns firing off. Well, none of that happened in Pigma's escape. It was as silent and swift as you could imagine. Pigma looked around in the dark, looking for Bailey. He was standing by the building sign.

"I assume you didn't hear the news. Your former leader is dead."

"The Major?" Pigma seemed unaffected by the news. "Hmm. Never really warmed up to him."

"Oh well. Good job on keeping it quiet. I couldn't have done anything if you have been captured."

"Thanks. Now I need to know something. Who the hell are you really? You're not doctor, I know that much."

Bailey laughed, in a maniacal kind of way. **"Well, why wouldn't I be a doctor?"**

Pigma froze, finally realizing who this is. Bailey started tearing at his face, ripping it away to reveal a possessed Santa Claus. **"Let's get to Eladard. I have some assignments for you to do."**

---------1903 Napa Suwe Ln.---------

_9:00 a.m..._

James yawned and opened his eyes. For a moment, he thought he was in his apartment. Then he quickly found out where he really was. Vixy laying in his arms was a clear giveaway. _Oh dear Lord... _James never thought he would find himself in _this _position, especially with her. The couch was small and skinny, which made the "hugging" a little uncomfortable. But he was okay with it. Vixy started to stir and rolled on her side, facing him. _Ooh..._

"Good morning," she said softly, her eyes still closed.

"Morning," James said awkwardly.

She got up from the couch, yawning, which James thought was adorable. He sat up, rubbing his eyes. Looking at the glasses on the floor, he sighed. How much more careless could he be? He picked them up and slipped them into his pocket. Vixy turned on the T.V., where there was reportings on the Lylat War. There was the death of Edwards, but they also mentioned the deactivation of the "Star Fox" Battalion.

"Star Fox?" asked Vixy.

"I came up with it."

"What unit are you going to be in now?"

"Don't know yet. They'll tell me when I ship out."

Next up came a report on the candidates for the new General. There were the candidates, standing up on stage, the crowd cheering them on. What caught James' ear was when they called out the names of the candidates. One of them was Robert Pepper. "Well, I'll be damned!"

"What?"

"Our Lt! He's up there!" He pointed at the screen, where Pepper was standing.

"He's running?"

"I didn't think he would!" It was strange seeing him up there, looking like a political figure. He wondered if Edwards would have ran.

---------Diner---------

James met up with Peppy, Matt, and Pepper at a diner for breakfast–with Jack Lombardi in his wheelchair. Vixy was also with him. This particular diner was also where she worked, but she was off. This diner wasn't "run down" as she described it. Far from it. It actually had a great atmosphere, and the people around them definitely seemed satisfied with their meals.

"General, huh? Didn't see that coming," said the former Lt.

"I'm surprised you didn't run," said Pepper.

"No, I can't handle that kind of responsibility. If I were General, we'd all be dead." Pepper laughed. "But you as a General, I can see that happening."

"Okay, enough with the General thing. How's your wife and your son?"

"Marcia is still recovering and Richard is doing fine. But for some reason, he doesn't respond to his own name."

"What do you mean?" asked James.

"I call out his name, and he ignores it. He probably prefers a nickname of some sort, but I don't know what to call him."

"Huh. Does he say anything?" asked Matt. "Not words, but just random sounds?"

"I don't know, but I swear I heard him once say 'falcon.' No, maybe it was 'falco,' without the 'n'. I think we'll be able to figure it out."

"That's good to hear," said Pepper.

A waitress walked up to the table. "Are you ready to order?"

"Yes," said Lombardi. The group called out what they wanted to eat one by one. Peppy was the last one.

"And would you like your eggs scrambled or fried, honey?" asked the waitress.

"Well, here's the thing..."

James had a look on his face which said "Here we go again..."

"Actually, just forget it," said Peppy. "Scrambled is good."

"Okay. Your meal will be ready in a minute." She walked away.

"What was that about?" asked Vixy.

James laughed. "Peppy, tell us how you like your eggs."

Peppy smiled awkwardly. "Well, I like my eggs scrambled except not like scrambled, but more... burnt. Like not burnt so it's gray, I mean really burnt. I like it blackened. And hard and crunchy. I like it so phenomenally burnt that it's not even egg anymore. It's more like glass, and when you stick your fork into it, it literally shatters across the plate."

"In other words, Peppy likes to eat carbon."

The others laughed. "I always try to get diners to cook my eggs like this. I would always explain it in great detail, like I just did. I even went as far as taking a picture of it and framing it to show to the cook."

"My God!" exclaimed Matt. "I can just imagine the look on the waitress' face..."

"Did they actually cook your eggs like that?" asked Pepper.

"Um, no. It was still runny when they gave it to me." He chuckled at himself, wondering how ridiculous he was sounding right now.

The waitress came back with the food on a tray.

"Goddamn, that was fast," remarked Pepper.

"Thank you," said the waitress, handing the food to them. Jack wheeled his chair closer to the table and grabbed his drink. He paused for a minute, holding the glass.

"For Edwards," he said silently.

---------Eladard---------

Andross lead Pigma to his office, where he was going to give him his assignment. This place amazed him. Everywhere he looked, there was some sort of invention this guy was working on. And in the corner, he saw the bomb. The bomb that started this war.

"I knew it!"

"**Yep. And Corneria still doesn't have evidence against me. They don't, right?"**

"Sort of. They have nothing, except for the name of this planet."

"**Yes, I heard about that."**

"You forged that signature, right?"

**"On the bomb? Yes. Badly, I might add."**

"Looks flawless to me."

"**Whatever. My office is at the end of the hall."**

They entered the office, which also amazed him. The walls were lined with newspapers.

_**Michael West High School burns down.**_

_**William Kup's body found in abandoned farm.**_

_**New cure for Kemeno virus, discovered by Dr. Andrew Bowman.**_

_**Dr. Bowman awarded Honorary Award for Outstanding Medical Achievements.**_

_**Cure for Kemeno virus found to have dangerous side effects. Dr. Bowman has no explanation.**_

_**Dr. Miyamoto finds new cure for Kemeno virus.**_

_**Thirty-nine people killed in shootout in downtown Corneria. Dr. Bowman arrested.**_

_**Dr. Bowman escapes penitentiary. Several security guards found dead.**_

_**Dr. Bowman missing for seven months. Proclaimed dead.**_

"_**Andross Oikonny" reveals himself through Channel 7.**_

_**Poisoned water kills thousands of civilians. Andross is prime suspect.**_

_**Andross escapes from the hands of Jim Edwards.**_

_**Gangster Marcellus Wallace and five others killed in car explosion.**_

_**293 Leeward Ct. bombed. No evidence of the Marvin Nash murder recovered.**_

_**Downtown Corneria attacked by terrorists.**_

_**Zoness, Titania, Fichina, Katina and Macbeth declare war against Corneria.**_

So Andross was once the infamous Dr. Bowman. Pigma would never have guessed, since his appearance has changed dramatically. Once, he would hear women on streets and on TV describing Andrew Bowman as "handsome." Now? He could shatter mirrors. But it was a strange sensation that he was probably the only Cornerian civilian that knew the truth of Dr. Bowman.

"**Now, if you could tear your eyes from the newspapers for just a second, I'd like to tell you your purpose of you being here."**

Pigma turned to Andross, sitting at his desk.

"**You will spy on Corneria for me. Tell me of their plans, tell me of their secrets. Tell me everything."**

The swine nodded. "Yes sir."

"**Now, you're not getting out of that Rehab Center for another six months, so you can wander around this planet until then."**

"I thought you deleted my records."

"**If I did that, wouldn't your little friends get suspicious? I changed your records around a bit, saying nobody can see you. Friends, family, doctors, nobody. You're now labeled as a 'special case,' meaning isolation is the best way to treat you. They don't even allow security cameras, which makes it even better. They say the cameras puts pressure on the patient, which can make the illness even worse. So that's that. In six months, you'll be freed, and nobody will suspect a thing."**

---------Cornerian Rehab Center---------

"How is he?" asked James.

"They didn't even let me see him," said Peppy with a puzzled face.

James looked as puzzled as he did. "Why?"

"Apparently, Pigma's a special case. They're isolating him from everyone else."

"It's that bad?"

"Guess so." They shrugged and walked off. "Why do you have to go to the base?"

"O'Donnell is being interrogated (Don't know about Powalski). They wanted me to be there because they knew I could get some information out of him better than anybody."

"Why is that?"

"Um... you don't want to know."

Peppy looked confused but let it go. "So how is it going with Vixy?"

"We're doing good," said James.

"Just good?"

"Well, I don't want to go into details."

Peppy whistled. "Must be pretty fucking great, I'm thinking?"

James only nodded.

---------Cornerian Army Naval Base – Interrogation Room---------

"Where am I?" asked O'Donnell, the blood in his head swirling. He could see nothing but darkness. He must have been drugged.

"You're on Corneria," said a voice.

All of a sudden, the wolf lashed out at the voice blindly. James stopped him by smacking him in the face with his fist. He shook the pain from his hand and threw the wolf back onto his chair. "Now, no need to get so violent. So just wait here and bleed for a second until the Lt. to come in." The wolf groaned.

A few minutes later, Pepper walked in. "Jeez McCloud, you started already?"

James snickered. "So what do we do?"

"First, I need to convince this guy that we're not the enemies. Then you can do whatever you want to him." Apparently, Pepper knew about the whole bar incident.

"Fuck you guys," said O'Donnell.

"Look, we have done nothing," said Pepper. "We convinced all your partners we captured that we didn't create that bomb. Just ask any of them. They're still on this planet – in this same building, as a matter of fact."

"I don't believe it."

"Okay, I have no idea how we convinced the others so we'll just arrange a meeting to your partners. They'll set you straight. Now James, anything you want to add in?"

"Yes. A specific location to the planet Eladard would be nice," he suggested.

"We asked the others already. That's one piece of information we can't get out of them."

"Trust me, I think I can get that out of this one."

"Do your worst," said the wolf defiantly.

"I just might," said James.

"Now remember McCloud, we're under strict rules of interrogation."

"I know that. But I don't think I can help myself. I mean, that female fox he raped at that bar... that's just unforgivable."

"You're... you're that soldier!" shouted the wolf. "You little fuck!"

"Little fuck? That just gave me an idea," said James with a grin on his face that Fancy Pants couldn't see. "You give us the location of Eladard, or I'll make it so you can't fuck anything ever again." He flicked out his pocket knife, the sound of it making the wolf jump. He winked at Pepper. "It's not a hard choice. Give your enemies vital information or never have any children. Take your pick."

O'Donnell was scared shitless, but still tried to keep his cool. "You're not going to do that..."

"And why not? Pepper, anything in the rule book about this?"

"Um, no. I don't think so."

"See? I'm free to do this if I want to," he said, walking closer towards him.

"S-stay away from me!" shouted the wolf, jumping out of his chair.

"Oh, so you want me to do it the hard way? Just hack around like a madman, hoping I don't hit anything other than your third leg? It'll be easy, Fancy Pants. Just _flick,_ and we can start your sex change operation..."

"Oh man..." Pepper said under his breath, right on the borderline of bursting out in laughter.

James backed the wolf into a corner and started unloosening his belt. He felt around between his legs. "Shit, ain't much to cut off..."

"For God's sakes man!" screamed O'Donnell, now crying and whimpering.

"Listen, Fancy Pants," said Pepper, trying to keep a straight face, "if you know something, you'd better let it out. I can't control this guy."

The wolf tried to gasp out a response. James backed away to let him talk. "I... Ela... it's... near... Papetoon."

"Papetoon, huh? That's all we need. Come on McCloud." Pepper walked out. They walked out of the room, leaving Fancy Pants on the floor crying his eyes out. "That was... pretty interesting," he said, finally letting the laughter out. "Oh... Edwards would have loved that."

---------1903 Napa Suwe Ln.---------

Since James sold his apartment, Vixy let him stay here for the three days he was staying here. Without hesitation or complaints. Right now, they were in an awkward pause as they were eating their dinner. And you know what that means. Just before, they were having a very engaging conversation about something that wasn't very important, but nevertheless it was engaging. Now? Crickets chirping.

She got up to put away her dishes. James, for some reason, thought this particular moment was the time. After she put them in the dishwasher, he got up and grabbed her. Then after a split second, he laid one on her. Vixy had a look of shock on her face, but she didn't stop him. So he didn't. They stayed there for what seemed like an hour, when only a minute went by. After which, another awkward pause, still holding each other. Right now, James was thinking, _What the hell did I just do? _And right now, Vixy was thinking, _Why did he stop?_

_The next morning..._

James woke up, remembering that he had the best night of his life last night. Although he couldn't remember what exactly happened, Vixy sleeping in his arms stark naked suddenly jolted his brain. He still couldn't believe they did that. He remembered it went on for a long time too. _Let's see, we started at around 10:00. Last time I saw the clock, it was 1:00 a.m. _So they had been going at it for three hours straight last night. _Jimmy, you devil._

Vixy rolled over to face him and smiled. "Good morning."

"Morning. So... how was your night?"

She laughed, which made him laugh. "Amazing," she simply said, resting her head on his chest. They stayed like that for a while in silence before she said, "You have to go today, don't you?"

James' heart sank, completely forgetting about that. He nodded. Vixy sighed, which made him even more depressed. He didn't want to go. Not now.

"Please promise me you'll come back?"

He looked at her and kissed her, almost as passionately as he did yesterday in the kitchen. "I will."

---------Cornerian Army Naval Base---------

"You're late, McCloud," said Pepper.

"Sorry. Got... um... held up," James said timidly.

"Your belt's unbuckled," said Matt.

James quickly buckled it, smiling weakly.

"What exactly got you held up?" asked Peppy.

"Long story."

They walked out of the hangar into the runway, where there were a couple of transports waiting for them. James was now in A Company, 12th Infantry Regiment, 4th Infantry Division. He sighed, still not believing that the Rangers were almost diminished. Two Ranger Battalions deactivated, leaving only the 1st Ranger Battalion. It made him depressed to think about it. With Vixy, he just forgot all of the horrors he experienced. Now he's about to relive them again.

_To be continued..._


	21. Operation: Plain Sight

**Operation: Plain Sight**

---------Eladard---------

"**Send up the General," **said Andross on his intercom.

In less than a minute, the General of the army, second only to Andross, came huffing up to his office. "Yes sir?"

"**Are our Rangers ready?"**

"Yes they are sir. Why?"

"**I've just gotten news that the Cornerian 2nd Ranger Battalion has been deactivated. Looks like your strategy of blending them in with our regular soldiers seemed to have paid off."**

"Thank you sir," said the General.

"**Since there is only one more Ranger battalion to take care of, I'll have you send half of your Rangers to regular duty. Send them to the weapons depot on Katina or something."**

"Yes sir."

---------12th Infantry Transport---------

James sat in the transport awkwardly. The other soldiers looked at him awkwardly. The whole ship was filled with awkwardness. While James was no longer a Ranger, he still wore his Ranger symbol on his uniform. The fact that a former Ranger was sitting in their ship made the other lower rank soldiers uncomfortable. James couldn't understand it. Were they scared? Nervous? He couldn't figure it out.

"So... um... Where are we going?" asked James. He had to break the silence somehow.

"Katina," said a feline soldier.

More silence. "So who's in charge of A Company?"

"You are sir. Our Captain was killed back in Titania and we didn't have a Sergeant."

James froze. _Oh crap... _"How many are there in A Company?"

"There are about thirty of us left, sir," said a bloodhound dog."

Thirty. Thirty lives to look over. "You don't have replacements?"

"No, we don't," said a falcon, from another company. "I'm Captain Matthew Hunt. I lead the D Company. We picked you because you were a Ranger, and your leadership stats were exceptional."

"But I'm a Corporal..." protested James.

"I know. But your stats rank you as a Sergeant in our books, so you're no longer a Corporal anymore."

_Sergeant? _He went from Corporal to Sergeant in less than two weeks. "Um... thank you sir." The Captain nodded, and went back to his company. James turned to his group, who were still looking at him awkwardly. The feline he was talking to earlier looked very familiar. "You. What's your name?"

"Pvt. Lucas Monroe."

James stared at him. "Are you... Martin Monroe's brother?"

The younger Monroe nodded slowly. "You don't have to tell me how he's doing. I already know."

He sighed. "Okay. Well, anybody else have names here?"

After the rest of the group shouted out their names, James could only remember less than half of them. He wasn't cut out for this leadership thing.

_Hours later..._

James wandered around the transport, which was more aged than the Ranger Transport. He walked inside the cockpit, and found a pleasant surprise. ROB-32 was sitting at the driver's seat.

"Well, nice to see a familiar face," he said silently. He walked back to the five sleeping quarters, which were all gigantic. They needed to fill thousands of soldiers after all. He checked his watch, which read 10:55. _Time to hit the hay, I guess. _He went inside of the third room and climbed up onto his bunk. This day has gone by way too fast. One day he's just a Corporal, now he's watching over a company of thirty soldiers. He collapsed and started dreaming.

_Next morning..._

"Wake up!" James jerked up, his eyes wide open. The Colonel (Banks) was giving out the wake–up call. All of the soldiers scrambled out of their beds. "Team Leaders, report!" It took him a couple of seconds to realize he was a team leader. He jumped from his bunk and ran to the Colonel along with the others.

"We're approaching Katina. After you get dressed, come to the Planning Room."

James went back to his bunk and pulled his uniform out of his bag. He slipped it on and walked over to the Planning Room. Everybody else ran in.

"Here's the plan..."

---------Katina---------

A, C, and D Companies dropped from the ship while the others stayed inside. They were landing somewhere else. The objective was a weapons depot which they had to destroy in order to clear a path for the 1st Ranger Battalion and to weaken their forces. These three Companies had to attack the depot directly while the rest of the infantry attacked from above.

Out of all the planets he's been to, Katina seemed to be the most empty. There was nothing but flat plains and a few hills. Not good if they needed cover. Luckily it was nighttime, but they would be screwed if the enemies had night vision.

"Weapons depot is not far," said Captain Hunt. He was in charge of the group as a whole since he had the higher rank, but James still had responsibility over his own team. "You remember what to do. C Company moves up the left side of the hill and mine moves up the right to position our flanks. A Company moves up the center to set up the explosions for the distraction."

C Company leader Sgt. Don Fitzgerald and James nodded. He grabbed the explosives out of his bag and handed them to a select few. He led them down their path, looking at the map on his PDA. The depot was only a mile away, so they could be seen easily by binoculars or snipers. The whole group stayed in prone position and covered themselves with dirt from the ground. So what could've taken them a measly ten minutes to get there ended up being forty. Hey, better safe than sorry.

Across from this depot four miles away is the base of operations. Knocking this depot out would clear a path for the Rangers and everyone else. A wall surrounded the area and guard towers were spread along the corners. Trying not to be spotted by the guards in the towers, the soldiers continued to inch their way towards the wall, not making any sudden movements. James and his group headed towards the center, near the entrance gate. Two guards stood on opposite sides of the gate. He gave the hand signal to get up from prone and into crouch position. The others obeyed. He whispered for the the soldiers with the explosives. Three soldiers (Pvt. Monroe, Pvt. Justin Barrett, and Pvt. John Page) crawled slowly towards the front. James ordered one to set his timer to five minutes. He turned on his radio and put on his headset.

"Charges set up for five minutes," James whispered into the mic.

"_Roger, A Company," _Captain Hunt responded. _"Rest of the infantry is coming in soon. C Company, what about you guys?"_

"_We're still moving towards the position. But go ahead and start without us. We'll be there in a minute."_

James shoved the radio into his pocket and lead his team out of the blast area. He looked back at the guards and then covered his ears. Seconds later, a portion of the wall blasted into a million pieces. The startled guards ran over to the scene. James grabbed his radio and spoke.

_"Permission to open fire?" _he asked.

"_Granted, A Company," _responded Captain Hunt.

He slipped it back into his pocket and picked up his rifle. He signaled his group to open fire, followed by a series of lasers plowing into the guards. They fell to the ground, their stomachs exploding. More of them poured out of the hole, meeting the same fate their fellow mates just faced. James ran along the wall to the hole, ordering Pvt. Paul Bonham to throw a grenade into the hole. He did, which threw more dirt and debris into the air (and limbs).

James looked out his side, before a couple of lasers whizzed by his head. He could have sworn one of them sliced through the hairs on his cheek. He leaned out and fired his rifle. A few of his soldiers rushed to the other side of the hole and did the same. More lasers blasted through the hole. He motioned for his soldiers on the other side to come back. They waited for the fire to cease, and ran back across the hole.

"Anybody have smoke grenades?" he asked. Pvt. Alec Jones opened his backpack and handed him one. James nodded in thanks. "Here's what we're going to do. There's a whole battalion of guards in there and we need to get through that to set up the explosives at the center," he explained. "Cease fire for a moment and let them think we're dead. Have them come out of the hole to investigate, then give it to them. Throw the smoke grenades in, then the machine gunners will run in and set up. Keep firing at the battalion, while four of us slip by and head to the objective. The rest of you will stay here."

"You Rangers are a lot more practical than us," remarked Pvt. Roger Gilmore.

James shrugged. He pulled out his radio and called up the Captain.

"_McCloud?"_

"Sir, I would advise that your company and C Company stay outside the wall. We'll be smoking the area, and I'll have machine gunners blasting the hell out of anybody they see."

"Acknowledged McCloud."

He called up the machine gunners (Pvt. Philip Plant, and Pvt. Howard Wright). He picked up his smoke grenades and selected three (Pvt. Jones, Pvt. Bonham, and Pvt. Monroe) to follow him. They waited for about ten minutes in prone position before a couple of guards walked out to investigate. Their investigation didn't last very long. James lead the five soldiers to the hole and took out a smoke grenades. He threw one through the hole and one over the wall. Hearing the sound of the smoke hissing out, the machine gunners ran in and immediately went into prone position. They fired excessively at anything they could see while James, Jones, Bonham, and Monroe slipped through. They continued on until they were out of the smoke.

The power generator was in the dead center of the area, underground. To get to it discreetly, they needed to find some way to it through the sewers. The others complained, but James responded with, "I've been through worse." They found a ladder leading down to the sewers and already they can smell it. James climbed down without so much a cough, while the others were gagging their guts out. "Watch where you spit that stuff, fellas," he said. He slid down the rest of the way, a rain of vomit following him. The others followed, wiping themselves off. They followed the path his PDA gave him, looking out for any guards. Not surprisingly, there weren't any.

They kept following the path until they found another small ladder. They climbed up, pausing at the top. There was a hatch, which James opened slowly. He placed his back against the wall, keeping his legs wrapped around the bar on the ladder, and shuffled through his pocket for a grenade. He pulled the pin and threw one through the opening. Shouting was heard, before it was muffled by the explosion. He pushed the hatch open and stuck his upper body up. He saw three confused guards trying to gain their hearing back. He grabbed his rifle and immediately fired, taking them down with ease.

They pulled themselves out of the hole. The power generator took up the whole room, separated into three sections. He ordered his soldiers to set the bombs for ten minutes at each section, telling them to use extra. They did exactly what they were told and hauled ass out of there. James let them go down the ladder first and followed. They backtracked through the sewer and climbed out. Again, no guards whatsoever. They met back with the rest of the team and the machine gunners. No casualties so far.

James' radio beeped. He pressed the speaker button. _"Are the explosives set?" _asked Hunt.

"_Wait for it..." _he replied. A large explosion followed, silencing the other blasts in the background. _"And...lights out."_

The area went pitch black, followed by the silence of the confused enemies. All they could hear was the heavy breathing of nearby soldiers. _"Suppressors, people," _said Hunt. _"And night vision would be nice too."_

"Suppressors and night vision on," repeated James to his team. They obeyed, screwing on their silencers onto their rifles and slipping on their goggles. "Careful," he said. "Watch your fire."

He led them through the area, wishing the night vision didn't distort his vision so much. A soldier appeared in his view. He held up his hand to stop his team from firing at him. They went into prone position and crawled slowly towards the figure. It didn't look like the soldier noticed them at all. When they got close enough and realized he wasn't one of theirs, James went ahead and popped one into his head. He crawled closer and inspected the body, which definitely wasn't an ally.

He told his group to keep their eyes open. Ten minutes went by, and nothing was happening.

Hunt radioed in. _"Stay away from the depot and remain outside of the walls. The dropship should be here soon with the bombs."_

"_Acknowledged," _said Fitzgerald.

"_Roger," _said James. He repeated the instructions to his team, and they proceeded to wander around the wall. It stayed that way for the next twenty minutes. They encountered nothing except for a few tangos and a couple of their teammates.

"_Hunt, where the fuck is that dropship?" _asked James.

"_They were supposed to be here half an hour ago," _said Hunt.

As if they heard their complaints, the dropship carrying the rest of the infantry flew in. Once that happened, the area once again became filled with sounds of explosions and gunfire as the guards tried to shoot the ship out of the sky. They failed to do so, and the dropship proceeded to drop their bombs onto the depot.

"_Wait for the dropship to land!" _shouted Hunt over the explosions.

They obeyed, and watched as the bombs dropped onto the depot, destroying everything in sight. This triggered a flashback in James' head when the enemies were doing the same thing to the Rangers on Titania. He shut his eyes from the sight, trying not to think about it. Which was still not helping, since the explosions kept drilling into his ears.

The dropships ceased fire, leaving the entire depot in debris. They landed near the wall, and James ordered his team to board. They waited for the others to board, and they took off, seeing the 1st Ranger Battalion below crossing through the rubble.

_To be continued..._


	22. Cleaning Up

**Cleaning Up**

---------12th Infantry Transport---------

When he heard that he was going back to Zoness, James was filled with many different feelings: disbelief, frustration, and shock. The Infantry had to basically clear out as many of their enemies as they can while the 1st Ranger Battalion try to capture One Nut on Katina; their last target. But James shook off those feelings by telling himself, "At least it's not Titania."

While they were heading to their objective, James started telling a couple of war stories to his team (Now renamed Star Fox) about his Ranger days. Soon, the crowd grew, with a couple of the officers listening in, to the whole ship. Even ROB-32 was listening. James felt kind of like an old war veteran telling these stories. He decided not to tell them about Zoness, since it would crush their spirits to hear that they were about to fight on one of the most god awful places in the Lylat System. Instead, he limited the stories to his old teammates and each of their individual quirks.

"Topher, all he cared about was food. When we first got those instant meal packages, he couldn't take his eyes off of them..."

"Matt can have a conversation on just about anything. We once had this whole conversation on different kinds of Dr. Pepper rip-offs..."

"Jack really knew how to bring our spirits up with these crazy stories. Like this one time when him and Edwards were exploring the sewers of Corneria..."

Then he talked about some of the troubles/situations they had on each of their missions, particularly on the Sand Blast Operation.

"These people were crazy. They tried smashing into the transport, like they were kamikazes or something. They would've done anything to bring us down..."

"The bombs seemed to drop forever. I had sand in my eyes and a loud ringing in my ears. It just wouldn't stop. After that, we climbed out of our foxholes. About half of our squad was gone by that..."

"I've been in that prison for about three months. They don't just torture your body, they torture your mind..."

"It was a strange sensation just being there, talking with the enemy like we were best of friends..."

After those stories were done, there was complete silence. Then somebody asked him about what happened to his ear. He told them as well. This lead to more stories about before the war. He told them about chasing the druggie, the showdown with the Quentin Tarantino freaks in the parking lot, their links with Andross, etc. This lead to more silence. It seemed they were dumbstruck about the life he lived.

When he was done with all this, they were already on Zoness.

--------Zoness---------

The entire Infantry was dropped off this time. Almost everyone started gagging. James, of course, didn't flinch. It's strange that after all this time, there were still crazy nut jobs here trying to fight off the Cornerians on this small piece of land. But there were, and they needed to be stopped before they decided to attack Corneria. It's a wonder why they didn't already.

"We're staying with C Company of the 1st Battalion, 22nd Infantry Regiment, or the Bulldogs," said James to his crew. "From what I've been told, they've been here since the beginning, so I'd try not to get them agitated."

He saw Captain Stanley and his company approaching. He also saw a significantly less amount of soldiers in this group than he saw last time.

"You look familiar, Sgt.," said Stanley.

"Yes, I was part of the 2nd Ranger Battalion."

"Oh, that's right. Well, let's move along."

They followed the Bulldogs along the shore, where they were immediately met with heavy gunfire. They hid around a sand dune (perhaps the hundredth sand dune James has been around), listening to the lasers impact the surface.

"So what exactly is our objective?" asked James.

"Beats me," responded Stanley. He peaked out the side, seeing a fair number of troopers already storming the beach.

"Can't believe they still haven't been wiped out after all this time," said James.

"Surprises me too," agreed Stanley. "All the ones my group killed and there are still swarms of them out there."

James readied his rifle and looked out the side. He stepped over his team, who were all in prone position. He dived out of his cover and fired excessively at the troopers. Killing a couple, he immediately dived back. He waited for the gunfire to stop, and dove right back out again, blasting the hell out of the group. A grenade flew at him, which he caught. He chucked it back at them. A couple of them fled while most of them ducked for cover. It exploded, blasting sand everywhere, which James blocked with his arm. He walked back to the sand dune.

The entire group looked at him as if he were insane.

"What?"

They all remained speechless, until one soldier said, "Um, are there any left?"

"I dunno," he said. It took him a second to realize what seemingly impossible feat he just performed. _How in the hell..._

More gunfire erupted in the area. The soldiers snapped out of it and joined in the fight. James ducked behind the dune and looked out the side. A grenade exploded nearby, sending a ring in his ears and blurring his vision. _Man, I hate flash grenades... _His vision came back after a few seconds, but his hearing was still muffled. He immediately saw three troopers in his sight and fired. Their bodies dropped to the sand, and so did many others. He looked around at his team, all accounted for. His hearing finally came back, picking up some explosions in the background and more gunfire. A few more minutes of this continued before the noise calmed down.

The few enemies still hanging around retreated. James and a couple of others sat down by the dune to get their air back.

"You are crazy," said Pvt. Jones.

James shrugged. He looked around his group and saw that he might have been younger than some of the soldiers here.

"Now what?" asked Pvt. Gilmore.

"Just take a breather. This whole day is going to wear all of you out."

They continued on with the Bulldogs. James had all sorts of weird flashbacks to Operation: Black Apple. They walked past an empty bunker; possibly the same bunker they encountered before. This also must have triggered a flashback for Stanley, for this was also the place where he lost a dozen of his men. Then they encountered more enemy troops in the swamp areas, which James remembered fondly, except without anyone attacking them.

There were only a few enemy troopers, which were disposed of easily. They continued on through the swamp. It was harder to wade through the flood lands than he remembered. This area probably took more damage than the last time. Also, the fact that there were fifty plus soldiers trying to walk through this crap at the same time made things more complicated. Every minute, at least five soldiers either trip and/or get stuck on the many impact craters at the bottom. It took them about ten minutes to get out of the flood lands, so that means every soldier in the group has tripped and/or gotten stuck on an impact crater at least once.

They rested once they were out of the area. It was getting dark, and everybody was tired and exhausted. James counted everyone to see if they were all there. He then took a minute to look around his group and match names to their faces. Pvt. Monroe, he knew already. Pvt. Justin Barrett was one of the falcons. Pvt. John Page... no, Pvt. Roger Gilmore was one of the three humans in his group. Actually, Pvt. Page is a human too, isn't he? Yeah, Gilmore has brown hair and Page had black. And then Howard Wright is the other human. Man, he really needed to get a very detailed list from somebody once they get back on the transport.

They all drifted off to sleep within two hours. James counted them all again to see if they were all there, which they have been for the past hour. He noticed that he's been doing that a lot since he was made the commander of this company. _You're getting paranoid, Jimmy. Just don't worry about it._

But it was hard not to. He didn't know how he would handle losing one of his soldiers, despite the fact he knew nothing about them. He tried thinking more happy thoughts to make him sleep. The thought of Vixy and their "special" night did the trick well.

_Five hours later..._

James woke up his soldiers and Stanley did the same. "We'll be leaving this afternoon," said James.

"I guess we'll be staying right here," said Stanley, with a weak smile. "Where are you going next?"

"Katina, I think? Which is sort of a pain, since we were just there."

The relief group came by a couple of minutes later, with ammo. "Hey, has anyone heard from the 1st Ranger Battalion yet?" asked Stanley.

"Last I heard, they're still pursuing One Nut," said a Sgt. 

James sighed and started to distribute the ammunition to his soldiers. Suddenly, his PDA started ringing. So did Stanley's and the Sgt.'s. They all got messages from Beltino, which sent a chill down everyone's spine.

_**Send reinforcements! Corneria is under attack! Repeat, Corneria is under attack!**_

_Four hours later..._

After everyone in the 12th Infantry got this message, they aborted whatever mission they were on and loaded back onto the transport. They were now hovering over Zoness.

"We're going back to Corneria," said Colonel Banks to the team leaders. "This Infantry and a couple of others, including the entire air force are going to help out. From what I'm hearing, it's not looking so good."

James decided that this was officially the craziest fucking week of his life. First he's rescued, then his leader dies, he's sent back home, he and Vixy fall madly in love, then he's promoted to Sgt. and is given a company to look over. Now Corneria is under attack, again. When will it end?

"So is the city holding up?" somebody asked.

"What do you mean? The entire planet is being attacked, not just the city."

_Oh, well that's just fucking great _is what just entered everyone's thoughts once Banks said that. No wonder they need the entire air force.

"ROB, we need to haul ass back to Corneria City, pronto!" shouted Banks.

"_Yes sir," _said ROB. The robot turned the ship around and blasted off. 

James walked back to the mess hall with the other team leaders, where the lower rank soldiers were chatting.

"Okay, listen up!" shouted Captain Hunt. He then proceeded to tell them exactly what Banks just told the team leaders. It was dead silence after that. James looked for his group and sat down with them.

"Is it true?" asked Pvt. Page.

"Every word of it," said James.

There was more silence, and it remained that way until they reached Corneria.

_To be continued..._


	23. Invasion 2, Part 1

**Invasion #2, Part 1**

Note: Sorry for the long update, but you have no idea how many problems I ran into on my computer. So if it seems like I'm getting a bit lazy with this chapter, you'd understand if you had to redo the same chapter a dozen times over.

---------Above Corneria---------

As they looked out at the carnage before them, they couldn't look away. The sheer destruction happening out in the atmosphere of Corneria was like nothing James (or anyone else) had ever seen before. To get their leaders back, Titania, Zoness, and Fichina sent hundreds of millions of their ships combined to attack all of the major cities in the planet. Katina was nowhere to be seen, and the 1st Rangers were still dealing with Macbeth. Along with the tiny spacecrafts scattered around the area, there were also gigantic, hulking drop ships carrying thousands of soldiers each to be brought down to Corneria. To counter all of this, Corneria has their entire air force protecting the planet.

Seeing about 30 million of their guys against however many of them there are of the enemies was a spectacular and horrible sight. Nobody could even tell which ships belonged to their side or which ships belonged to the other side. Everywhere they looked, burnt metal dropped towards the planet, burning up in the atmosphere. James wanted to be out there, in his Arwing, helping them out. But he knew he had to stay with his team. He had to protect those thirty lives more than he'd protect himself.

The transport was escorted by a small squadron of fighters. They led ROB to the city, trying to find a safe landing zone. James looked down at the city, which had suffered more damage than the last invasion. It was upsetting to look at a city which had just been fixed up, only to be completely eradicated again. Although everyone couldn't care less about the buildings, but rather the citizens. Were their loved ones okay, everyone thought. Was Vixy alive, James thought. Banks assured everyone that all the survivors would've been moved to the subways and sewers, although there was a bit of uncertainty in his voice.

The escorts led the transport to a leveled building near the outskirts of the city. ROB prepared to land the ship while the escorts flew away, returning to their objective. No troopers were around: the majority of them were in the square. ROB locked the ship in its place and everyone loaded off, Banks leading. Outside, every company was given an objective. James' was to find a downed transport in the park that might contain survivors. They then had to bring the survivors back here, with the help of another company from another infantry coming from the other side of the city.

After Banks was done assigning objectives, everyone split up and headed off to wherever they needed to go. James looked at his PDA, which contained a map of the city. The map marked the park in red, where his objective was. A blue line trailed from his position to the park. 

"Okay, let's go," he said to his team. They headed southwest, where they saw nothing but one collapsed building after another. Troopers were storming the streets everywhere they went, and on the way they saw their troops fighting them off. They encountered many battles happening throughout the city, which they had to slip by carefully. Sometimes they were forced to join in on the fight to clear a path for themselves. So far, no casualties. James knew that for sure, because he checked about twelve times. Literally.

He still couldn't immediately match the face with the name. The first chance he gets, he wanted to look over a list he requested from Banks. Right now was not a good time, because they were being ambushed by snipers hanging out in a building up high. They, along with another company of a different infantry, took cover - which there was plenty of.

"Who's CEO?" James yelled over his cover - a wreaked bus.

"I am," said a human next to him. "Captain Walker."

"Sergeant McCloud," he replied. "Who are you, the Humans? Or Homos?"

"No," said Walker with a smile. "The Sapiens. How about you?"

"Star Fox."

"Creative. Have any snipers on your team? I only have one, and he's way over there in the back."

"Hold on." James looked out from the bus, still keeping out of sight. "Who here has a sniper rifle?"

"I do, sir," said Pvt. Barrett from behind a large brick wall left behind from a building.

"Okay," said James. "Can you see them from there?"

"Wait, sir." Barrett set up his sniper rifle, looking through the scope. "No. I can barely make out the body. Want me to move closer sir?"

A shot rang out and a laser hit near Barrett's position. He leapt away and took cover.

"No, you definitely need to stay there," said James. "Anybody else who's closer?"

"I have a rifle, sir," shouted a voice that James couldn't recognize.

"Pvt.? Can you see the target(s)?"

"Um…" Silence. "Yeah, I can make them out clearly, sir."

"Go for it, Pvt."

James sat behind his cover, waiting for the sound of the sniper. After a few minutes, he heard it echo throughout the area.

"Got one, sir!" the Pvt. shouted back. "Damn, that's a long fall."

"Are there more?"

"Yeah, I can see a couple of machine gunners around the roof."

He was telling the truth, because a rapid fire of lasers came towards them like rushing water. Everybody stayed out of sight, the lasers hitting everything _in_ sight.

"Shit!" shouted Walker.

"Their fire's inaccurate!" James yelled over the noise. "We just need to keep low!"

"Sir!" yelled the sniper. "I can't see any more snipers! Only machine gunners!"

"Good! Soldiers, keep away from the lines of fire and you'll be fine!"

The soldiers closer to the building moved closer towards it, where they couldn't reach them. The rest avoided the lasers and stayed in a crouched or prone position. The gunners couldn't hit shit. Every one of the soldiers reached the building with no problem. 

"We'll take care of this," said Walker. "You guys go ahead."

James nodded, leading his team along the side of the building to the park. It wasn't far and they could see traces of smoke emitting from the area. There had better be survivors, James thought.

The transport was in the dead center of the park. It was completely intact, but in quite a state. There was no way for them to get in. "Search the ship," he ordered his soldiers. "Start cutting through the hull."

While the soldiers went off to complete those orders, James looked over the list.

McCloud, James. Sergeant

Plant, Philip. Corporal

Daltrey, David. Corporal

Gilmore, Roger. Corporal

Page, Jonathon. Private First Class

Townshend, Harold. Private First Class

Bonham, Paul. Private First Class

Moon, William. Private First Class

Barrett, Justin. Private First Class

Jones, Alec. Private First Class

Entwistle, Michael. Private First Class

Waters, Donald. Private First Class

Monroe, Lucas. Private

Lloyd, Stanford. Private

Cook, Quinn. Private

Graham, Charles. Private

Young, Robert. Private

Gunther, Richard. Private

Neumann, Jerome. Private

Hopkins, Lawrence. Private

George, Patrick. Private

Smith, Carl. Private

White, Derek. Private

Rudd, Henry. Private

Ward, Oliver. Private

West, Herbert. Private

Thompson, Alister. Private

Hamilton, Ralph. Private

Taylor, Bernard. Private

Morgan, Kirk. T-4 Medic

Harper, Ronald. T-4 Medic

The names matched up with a picture of the soldier. There was no way he was going to remember all of these names, let alone match them to the faces. He spent about half an hour looking over the list, waiting for his soldiers to clean out the transport.

"Sir?" Corporal Plant walked up to him. "We've found about two hundred survivors."

"Two hundred? How many were in the transport originally?"

"Uh… a thousand, sir."

"Damn…" James put away the list and walked over to the crowd of survivors. Some could stand and walk, but most were laying on the ground, the medics taking care of them.

"James?" He turned his head, seeing Peppy Hare walk towards him.

"Peppy? Thank God you survived!"

"Yeah, thank God indeed," he said solemnly. Understandable, seeing as how eight hundred of his infantry had died.

"Who's the CEO?"

"He's dead," said Peppy. "I think all we have now is a corporal. Where's your CEO?"

James paused for a moment. "You're looking at him."

Peppy's surprised look on his face prompted James to explain what has happened the past few days. 

"In less than two weeks? Damn…"

"Sir? This corporal wants to speak to you," said Cpl. Daltrey, pointing to an injured swine on the ground. James walked over to the corporal, kneeling beside him. The swine sat up to talk.

"You okay, Corporal?"

"Just a leg, sir," he replied. "I'm Cpl. Turner. Our CEO would've been an eagle…."

"Are you 3rd Battalion, 22nd Infantry?" James asked.

"No, those must be different Eagles. Captain Farmer, right?" James nodded. "No, our CEO was Captain Hoffman, but he was killed in the crash. We're the 4th Infantry."

"How did you end up like this?"

"We were one of the first to arrive here, since we were stationed at Katina. Right when we were entering the atmosphere, our ship seemed to decide at that moment to get an engine problem. I was piloting the ship, and let me tell you sir. It was like trying to pilot a freight train in the sky with seven hundred tons of steel on board. It didn't help that we were surrounded by about fifty bogies around us, firing at the same time."

"Why didn't they finish you off when you crashed? They wouldn't have just left you there."

"The air force must have distracted them. Thank God too, because I think the ship would've been done for if it took just one more laser blast. Are you taking us away?"

"Yes, but we're going to have to wait for another company because I only have thirty soldiers on mine," James replied.

"Alright," said Turner. "We're not going anywhere."

_To be continued…_


	24. Invasion 2, Part 2

**Invasion #2, Part 2**

---------Corneria City---------

James led the pack with his rifle by his side as half of his and half of another company led about a fourth of the survivors of the crash to the extraction zone. Other companies would come for the rest, who were being protected by the other two halves of their companies. Most of the survivors had to be carried by stretchers or needed crutches, but some could walk on their own with no problem. There was a "ring" of soldiers around the pack for protection, although they didn't see anything for a while.

Only once did they run into some sort of trouble, and that only took them about ten minutes to straighten out. A small squad of troopers who were hiding out in a small building "ambushed" the group. It didn't take much effort to take them out, since James and his team had the best cover in the world: an entire row of wreaked buses. After this, they pressed on with no casualties other than the ones they already had.

"There it is," said James, pointing to their drop ship. There was ROB, opening the docking bay doors. James stepped to the side as they started to load the injured onto the ship. The ones who could still walk were to come with them.

"This feels weird," said Peppy, "being under your command."

James smiled. "Don't worry, I'm not a hard ass. Hell, I'm not much of a leader yet anyway. It's only been a few days."

"So can I still call you Jimmy, or is it 'sir?'"

"Nah, Jimmy's still fine."

The companies finished up loading the survivors on board, and they could see in the distance other companies bringing some of the others. "Alright, let's go team," said James, leading off his pack, plus fifteen more, including Peppy. They were short on weapons, with some of them carrying only pistols or no weapon at all. Knowing this, they were kept around the middle, with James' company around the ring. It took them a shorter time to get to the park. The action seemed to have died down a bit on the surface and was focused more in the air.

The rest of A Company stood in the park alone, with the rest of the survivors taken by other companies.   
"Did you find any weapons?" asked James.

"Nope," replied Cpl. Plant. "Although we did find some spare medical supplies."

James sighed. "Alright. Take out your hand guns and give them to somebody who doesn't have a weapon. We need to find a relief group somewhere."

His company did so and they decided to stay in the park to rest for a while. He looked at his PDA, with areas marked where enemies have been spotted. There were none around the park, although it'll beep if the satellite picks up any activity. The new models were quite a charm to use. The soldiers laid down on the grass, looking at the sky. Everyone could still see clouds of ships fighting each other off, sometimes passing through Solar and shrouding the city in a dark gray for a short period. James kept his eyes away, focusing on his PDA, even though nothing was happening. He typed a message to Banks, saying,_ Objective accomplished. Next? _He put it away, waiting for a response. Until then, he picked at the grass, trying to look away from the sky. But nobody could ignore the following event.

A loud, shrieking sound echoed throughout the city, and a flash of green light filled the sky. He had to look up at the spectacle before him. A green halo spread throughout the sky like a rock hitting a puddle of water and the light blinked rapidly before dissolving completely.

"What the fuck was that?" asked Peppy.

---------Above Corneria---------

_Three minutes earlier..._

A fighter containing only Andross and Pigma rocketed across the sky, with Pigma flying the ship. 

"What are we doing out here?" he asked.

"**I want to see just how good this bomb is. So we're testing it out."  
**

"What, right now?"

"**Yes, just keep flying. The Cornerians will think I'm the source of the explosion, sure. But the others will think the Cornerians fired the bomb, which will make this a bit more exciting."**

"You _are_ insane," said Pigma with a smirk on his face.

"**I know. Now, after this, you will drop yourself off anywhere in the city. If anybody who knows you finds you, tell them the rehab center was attacked and you escaped. They'll probably lead you to wherever they keep their civilians..."**

"Probably the sewers or subways," said Pigma.

Andross' face lit up. **"Really? I'll have to remember that. Anyway, if they do so, just let them. I'll change your records for the rehab center, saying that you'll be let out early. About... two weeks would be good. Understand?"**

"Yes sir."

**"Good. Now, let's say we test this bomb out, shall we? How about over there? There's a nice number of ships flying around there..."**

---------Corneria City---------

The soldiers were still staring in awe at the sky, long after the light had gone. They still couldn't believe what they had just witnessed.

"You know, I think that might have been the bomb," said James.

"Really?" asked Peppy. "Why would it be set off right now?"

"For testing purposes," he replied. "In any case, I don't want one of those dropping on us."

"Bloody oath," Peppy agreed.

James looked at his PDA and saw a response from Banks. _Nothing for now. Good work McCloud._

"Go ahead and rest, team," he said. "We don't have an objective for now." He sighed and laid on the grass, having the first calm moment he's had in a while. Peppy slept almost immediately after he laid down. James kept himself awake, in case his PDA fails to acknowledge any enemy presence. He listened to the various conversations his soldiers were having. They reminded him of the Rangers and the strange conversations they used to have. He immediately stowed that thought away and put his mind at peace.

_Three hours later..._

"Sergeant? Sergeant?" James woke up and saw Cpl. Gilmore looking down on him. "Relief group's here." He stood up and saw a group of thirty or so and crates of supplies.

"Give us all you can," said James. "We're gonna need it."

"No problem, sir," said a Cpl. "We have more than enough."

Soldiers started to open the crates, containing food, weapons, medical supplies, and water refills. After this was distributed, the relief group walked away. James took out his PDA and saw a message from Banks: _New objective. Check map. _James did so and saw a new red area that wasn't far from their position. A building was completely overtaken by troopers, and they were to take it back. A classic "capture the flag" type situation here. He told his team the objective and they headed off in the direction the map lead them.

Once they arrived within about half a mile away from the building, they were immediately met with heavy fire from troopers guarding the entrances. They took cover wherever they could find it. James took a peak out the side of his cover and inspected the building. This was the building Beltino showed the trainees on their first day. If the weapons, vehicles, and/or blueprints were still there, then they were fucked.

He saw an entrance on one side towards the right, and there were definitely entrances on the other three sides. The entrance was being guarded by ten or so troopers, and he assumed that was probably true for the other entrances as well.

"Well then," said James, "anybody have an idea?"

No answer.

"Okay then..." He thought for a second while lasers blasted every which way. "Smoke grenades. Anybody have them?"

Pvt... Entwistle, he thought, raised his hand. "Okay Pvt. Try to get one over on the right."

He turned to the five surrounding him (Page, Waters, Hopkins, Monroe, and Barrett). "I'll take you all with me and we'll try to run by." Then he raised his voice over the lasers for all the group to hear. "The rest of you will stay here. We'll try and clear out that entrance, and until we do, wait for my signal."

He turned to Entwistle and nodded. Entwistle took one smoke, readied it, and threw it over to the right. The smoke emitted, and James waited until it covered the area. He ran out to the left, with the five soldiers following him. He saw the guards up ahead near one entrance and before they could see them, James ordered his team to fire while he started cooking a frag grenade in his hand. To finish them off, he threw it and it landed with satisfying results.

They ran up near the corner, their backs up against the wall. James crawled to the front, looking for other guards possibly coming from the other entrance. He spotted one trying to sneak a peak at their position and he immediately popped a shot at his head, seeing him fall to the ground. To make sure, he threw a frag grenade around the side. A loud boom was heard, and he peaked around the side. He saw three dead bodies, and one lone survivor crawling on the ground, his legs completely missing. James put the survivor out of his misery and he shimmied along the wall, the others following suit. Nearing the entrance, he saw nobody guarding it. The lasers had stopped firing as well.

James signaled the rest of his team to come forth. They gathered around the entrance. "Okay, there's forty-six of us total. No way we're all going to fit here, so let's split ourselves up. One group will take this entrance here. There's three more entrances in this building and we've already cleared one of them. The other two, you'll just have to improvise."

James and Cpls. Plant, Daltrey, and Gilmour started splitting the group up into two groups of twelve and two groups of eleven. The two groups of twelve were to take the entrances that haven't been cleared out and the two groups of eleven would obviously take the cleared ones. James lead Pvts. Bonham, Barrett, Young, Monroe, West, Ward, and Hamilton from his group, plus three from the survivors, including Peppy.

They entered the building slowly and quietly...


	25. Invasion 2, Part 3

**Invasion #2, Part 3**

---------Cornerian Research Center---------

James and his group needed to walk as slowly as they could in effort to suppress the sound they were making. There was virtually no cover they could in these narrow hallways they were walking through, except for a couple of rooms they could hide in. James kept an ear out for any approaching footsteps coming their way. The rest of the company were on other levels and they were to stay on those levels in order to avoid friendly fire.

James peeked at the next hallway and saw an elevator. Nobody was there, but he saw a green "up" arrow glow. He told the group to stay here and wait. He walked towards the elevator and held out his gun. But before he could ready himself, he heard, "Don't shoot! Whoever is out there!" from inside. The door opened, and there was Beltino Toad, standing with hands up.

"Sir? What are you doing here?" asked James.

"I escaped," replied Beltino. "I was hoping to find somebody out here to help me out."

"Well sir, we'll extract you as soon as we..."

"Free the hostages down below?"

The other soldiers, listening to this, thought it safe to come out.

"Hostages? What?"

Beltino looked confused. "Isn't that why you are here?"

"Um... no, actually. We were just told to clear the building," said James.

"Oh... well, in order to do that, you'll need to clear out the basement as well. Which is where the hostages are being kept. So, uh... it sorta works out, doesn't it?"

James sighed. "Alright. Is there any other way downstairs besides this elevator?"

Beltino led the group to a stairway located at the other side of the building. James took the lead again once they got there and ordered five of his soldiers (Peppy, Barrett, Monroe, Ward, and Young) to follow him while the rest stay behind to protect Beltino and to watch over the stairway. They couldn't have twelve individuals climb down the stairs without making any sort of noise, which was the reason for this order. He led the five down the stairs with him, trying to keep quiet. This was quite a task, since the stairs were hollow metal and any sound they made would echo throughout the stairwell. James held out his weapon the entire time and kept his eyes forward. Young and Ward shot glances behind them from time to time.

They were nearing the bottom when James told them to wait for a moment. He continued on with the others taking cover behind the walls. He peaked out the corner and saw two guards standing near the stairwell. He looked back and motioned Peppy to come forward. James moved forward while Peppy stayed by the corner, looking out at the guard. They both placed suppressors at the tips of their weapons. James nodded at him, and they both took their aim. He whispered a count of three for only Peppy to hear. At three, the guards below immediately dropped to the ground. James continued down the stairs while Peppy stayed behind.

He reached the bottom and looked around. This place was like an unfinished basement, but worse. The walls were brown rock and the floor was concreted. The ceiling seemed to stretch up for miles. Lights mounted on the walls brightened up the room. He checked the left corner. Nobody there. Then he checked the right corner. Nobody there. He decided to take a risk and he peaked his entire head out the left corner. Still nobody. Then he did the same for the right corner. He saw about ten people in prone position, their hands covering their necks. There were guards looking through drawers and some looking for some sort of data on the computers. There could be more hostages/guards, since he couldn't see anything behind the stairwell.

He backtracked up the stairs and met up with the rest of the group. "The left side is completely clear," whispered James. "The right side is where all of the guards and hostages are."

"How many are there?" asked Monroe.

"I saw ten hostages and about five guards. I don't know if that's all of them though."

With that, he led the group downstairs. James reached the bottom first and watched the right corner as the rest of the group sneaked into the left side of the room. They all backed up against the wall while James crawled past them. This whole room was sorta donut shaped and there were only a few tables around, which made cover a little hard to come by. James stuck close to the wall and avoided areas where there was light. The guards weren't looking anywhere in this direction; they were more preoccupied with finding whatever they were finding. A couple hostages, however, could slightly see a fox in uniform sneaking by. James put his finger to his mouth, telling them to keep quiet. He counted the guards; seven of them. He saw fifteen hostages. James sneaked back to the group to tell the numbers.

"Alright. Now, your aim must be as precise as it possibly can. We're all going to shoot at one guard each. There's an extra one that I'll take out, but won't kill. We'll question him."

The group nodded in unison. James led them to their positions, each one taking aim at a guard of their choice. He looked to see if they were all ready, and he whispered, "One... two... three!"

Everyone fired, and six guards fell to the ground like dummies. James immediately charged toward the extra guard, whose mind was still digesting what the hell was happening. He took aim at the guard's head, to which the guard obliged and dropped his weapon and raised his hands.

"Whatcha looking for?" asked James calmly.

The guard whimpered, obviously scared out of his wits. "I never wanted to be in this war! I wanna go home!"

James was bewildered at this reaction. "I–I never asked–"

"Please, let me go!" screamed the guard. "I don't wanna die!" He bent down to the floor and cried.

James lowered his weapon and sighed, trying not to laugh. "Listen, son," he said, even though it was obvious this guard was older than him. "I'm not going to kill you. I just want to ask a few questions." He hesitantly patted the guard on the shoulder. The other soldiers looked in amusement. This could not have been any more awkward. "What's your name, kid?"

"Um... Ca–Caiman Shears."

"And where are you from?"

"Fr–from Z–Zo–Zoness, sir..."

"Zoness, eh? I'm sorry to hear that. So Mr. Shears, can you tell us why you attacked us?" James tried to use the most soothing voice he could possibly use. It sounded forced, but it seemed to be working, as Shears' whimpering was starting cease.

"Well... we received news that you've killed William Black, our leader. The other planets too, they received news too that their leaders have been killed."

"Who gave you this news?"

"Um... Andross did," said Shears.

This didn't surprise James at all. "Well, I'll tell you that Andross was lying. Your leader is alive, and if you don't believe me, I can take you to him."

Shears looked up, shocked. "Andross lied?"

"Surprised? He lied about everything. We have no bomb of any kind."

"That's what we were looking for. Blueprints for that bomb."

"They don't exist," assured James.

"Then what was that explosion? In the sky?"

"You got me there. I don't know who set that thing off, but it wasn't us. I would say that it was Andross, but I don't have any proof of that."

Shears was silent.

"Your leaders put too much trust in Andross. They seemed to believe everything he says. That bomb he probably showed them was most certainly made by him. General Miller's signature was forged by him. That entire product is his."

Shears was still silent.

"Now we have all of the leaders of the planets except for Katina. I think we're planning to negotiate with the planets. We'll give them their leader if they cease fighting."

Shears... you know.

"All of the leaders say that they are fully convinced that the bomb was not ours. However, we don't know for certain whether they were telling the truth or just telling us what we wanted to hear. We don't have much evidence, you see."

Shears looked up at James and could see in his eyes that he was telling the truth. "Okay... what are you going to do with me?"

"Well, first we'll strip you of any armor and weapons you have, and you'll join this group of lovely folks here," he said, pointing at the hostages. He raised his eyebrow, seeing that they were all still flat on the ground, hands above their heads. "You know... you can get up now..."

The hostages awkwardly raised to their feet. Shears removed his pistol and his under armor and joined the hostages. "Okay," James said to his group. "Let's go."

Everybody clamored up the stairs, not worrying about the noise. James reached the top first, seeing the five soldiers and Beltino still huddled around the opening.

"Any trouble up here?" asked James.

"Nope," replied Pvt. Bonham. "We were all bored out of our minds here."

James smiled. He saw Cpl. Daltrey and his group emerging from the corner. "Hostages?" was his first response.

"Yep," said James. "We'll wait for Cpl. Plant and Gilmore by the entrance."

Daltrey nodded, and everybody scurried over to the entrance. It was a tight space, with very little room to move their arms. Most of the soldiers were ordered to wait outside, with some of them inside to watch over the hostages, sitting down on the floor. While they were waiting, James sent a message to ROB to bring the ship over to their position.

It took about ten minutes before Cpl. Gilmore and his group were seen walking towards the entrance. He, too, was surprised by the hostages. They all waited another fifteen minutes until Cpl. Plant's team arrived.

"We're all here, then?" asked James. "Alright, ROB will be coming any minute now."

Almost immediately after he said that, he saw the transport landing by the building. He waited for the ship to settle, then he ordered the hostages to board the transport. ROB walked out of the ship to meet with James.

"Where are you taking them?" asked James.

"_Far out on the countryside," _said ROB.

"Not the subways?"

_"No. We've moved all of the civilians to the countryside. There was an attack at one area in the sewers. Sixty were killed before soldiers saw what was happening."_

James froze, immediately thinking about Vixy.

The robot paused for a minute. _"I just received a message from Colonel Banks, sir. He wants your company to board the ship. No explanation is given."_

"Okay then," said James, his mind not thinking clearly. He and the company boarded the transport and ROB walked back into the cockpit. The ship lifted off the ground and flew off. The robot was smart, keeping the ship low near the buildings.

"Excuse me," said Beltino from behind him. "Where's the restroom?"

James pointed it out for the toad and he immediately rushed to it. He sighed, looking at the poor toad almost waddling towards the restroom. Hard to believe this guy was actually married.

He went inside the cockpit, where ROB was concentrating on the path as hard as only a robot can. "How long is the flight?"

_"Two hours, sir," _said ROB, not looking away. _ "If there are no distractions, of course."_

"Alright." He walked over to the briefing area, where the hostages were staying. "You all don't have to stay here, you know. This is a pretty big ship. You can walk about if you like, as long as you don't get lost."

The hostages stared at him, still unsure. James walked away, trying to avoid any more awkwardness. He found his soldiers in their sleeping quarters. "We've got two hours until we reach the countryside."

"Thank the Lord," exclaimed Pvt. Moon.

James climbed up to his bunk, above Cpl. Plant's. The other soldiers that weren't his sat in the bunks of some of his soldiers.

"So you play guitar, Page?" asked Townshend. "So do I."

"You do? How long?" asked Page.

"About six years, I think."

"Ahh. Eight years for me."

"I play bass," said Jones.

"Yeah, so do I," replied Waters.

"Me too," said Entwistle.

"Well, don't we have quite the musically educated group here?" remarked James.

"Doesn't stop there. I play the drums," said Bonham.

"You copier," joked Moon.

"Hey Sarge, you play an instrument?" asked Page.

"Well, I played the recorder in fourth grade," said James, to which everyone chuckled. He grinned, glad that he finally had the opportunity to bond with this group.


	26. Invasion 2, Part 4 Conclusion

**Invasion #2, Part 4 (Conclusion)**

---------Countryside---------

All of the civilians of Corneria City and a few infantries scattered around the countryside. Some were being treated with first aid, others were given food and water. Soldiers were walking around, taking names of the people there. James and the other CEOs of the 12th Infantry met up with Colonel Banks for briefing.

"Hey Banks, what gives?" asked Captain Hunt.

"I've received news that 1st Ranger Battalion has just captured the One Eyed Ogre. We're getting ready to negotiate with the other planets," explained Banks. "Now in order to do that, we'll need a group to bring their leader and the negotiator to them."

"Who's the negotiator?" asked James.

"He's one of the candidates for General. Robert Pepper, I think is name is," said Banks, to which James beamed. "So anyway, the plan is not to convince them that we didn't make the bomb. But rather, to convince them that we don't want to fight anymore. If we're saying this, then why would they think we would want to attack them with that bomb?"

The CEOs nodded.

"So we've been the infantry chosen to do this. I've been advised to just send one company, so who wants to do it?"

The CEOs were hesitant. Then, out of nowhere, something prompted James to raise his hand to volunteer.

"Very good, McCloud," said Banks. "Now, you'll be sent up to Titania first on that smaller transport over there. All you'll need to do is bring Pepper and their leader over there safely."

James nodded. He walked over to his company, who were sitting around eating lunch. The survivors that followed them around were now considered part of the company. Thirty lives were enough for him already, but with the survivors, that made forty-five total, not including himself. What the hell?

"Okay, listen up," shouted James, over the noises of the crowd. He explained their mission to the company, which took a couple of seconds. "Any questions?" No response, except for a couple of them shaking their heads. "Alright, now I need the names of all of the survivors of the 4th Infantry. Anybody have a sheet of paper and a pen? Anything to write their names down?"

Pvt. Page ripped one out of some sort of journal he was taking. He gave it to Peppy, who passed it to another survivor. James obviously didn't need Peppy's name on the sheet. The survivors passed it around, until the last one, an avian, stood up and gave it to James. He read it over. Next, he proceeded to call out the names to match it to the face. He was starting to get better at this. Banks walked over to him. "Your team has fifteen minutes." James nodded and was about to tell his team before a familiar sensation happened. The same green flash that appeared in the sky before now appeared on the horizon, north of their position. The shrieking sound echoed throughout, much louder than before, and the light pulsed into the sky. The crowd was dead silent.

"Isn't... that where Satoushi City is?" asked James.

"Yes..." said Banks.

"Please tell me that city was evacuated..."

Banks remained silent.

A cold wind blew over the crowd while everyone's eyes rested upon the explosion, and stayed that way for the longest time. Some wanted to cry, but couldn't bring themselves to. Others took off their helmets/hats, mourning. James' mind went blank. For a moment, he couldn't think of anything at all. What snapped him out of it was a hand that slipped into his. He looked to his right and saw Vixy, who looked into his eyes with the same sadness that filled everyone else's. They both were the only ones who looked away from the light, which didn't faded for another ten minutes.

---------Above Corneria---------

_One hour earlier..._

"**I'll drop you off here," **said Andross.

"Where are you going?" asked Pigma.

"**Oh, just another testing here. Also something that might end this whole thing."**

"Tell me, Andross. This seems more like a grudge you have against Corneria. Why are you really doing all of this?"

Andross paused for a minute. **"Well, Pigma... to tell you the truth, there really is no reason for all of this. I could've just let these people live in peace for all I care. You want to know why I did all of this? It's amusing to me. I love seeing people who haven't done anything wrong suffer. I enjoy death and destruction. It's fun to see all of these people die in agony for a worthless cause."**

Pigma stared at him, not at all disgusted or revolted. But more amazed.

"**Honestly, I don't give a shit whether I win or lose, although the former would be nice. All I want to see is suffering. As long as it's not me who's suffering." **He lit a cigarette in his mouth. **"I think it's time to end this thing, since it's starting to get tiring. Now when that happens, the first thing they're going to want to do is go after me. And that's another thing I enjoy: a nice little chase. I've avoided capture for a while now, and I'm missing being chased around, having other people boil in their frustration of not having caught me yet. So I'm going to end this, and then I'm going to run. You keep in touch with me."**

Pigma smiled, loving the way this guy thought. Andross brought the ship down near some collapsed buildings, and Pigma boarded off. He flew away, not caring who sees, while looking at a map. Trying to find one of the biggest cities in the area besides Corneria City, he found one called Satoushi City. His plan was to confuse the other planets as to why the Cornerians would bomb one of their own cities. Then he'll go back to Eladard and work on the rest of his plan from there. From then on, he was his own side.

---------Countryside---------

"So how are you feeling? Better now?" asked James.

"Yeah, a little bit," said Pigma. "Titania was just hell for me. But after I heard what you've been through, I can see I had it good."

Peppy smiled. "It's good to see you again."

"McCloud!" Banks called. "It's time! Looks like we're ending this thing once and for all!"

"We gotta go," said James.

Pigma nodded. "Good luck!"

James gathered his company up and led them to Pepper, who was standing next to the Transport. "McCloud, Hare! Nice to see some familiar faces!"

James smiled.

"Okay, so the plan still stays the same, only this time we're taking all of the leaders to Katina. The 1st Ranger Battalion is calling us over there."

"Why?" asked Peppy, seeing the company leading four of the five leaders onto the ship.

"Well, apparently the other planets have heard about Satoushi City. I think they're all convinced that we didn't make that bomb. After all, why would we bomb our own city?"

James felt relieved that this whole thing was finally coming to an end. "Are we leaving now?" he asked.

"Um... not right at this second. We've got about ten minutes left."

"Okay, good!" With that, he ran off, away from the confused looks of his company and Pepper. He looked around and found Vixy, who was receiving some food from one of the relief soldiers. She saw him and set the tray down to approach him. 

"We're leaving now. Just wanted to say bye." They hugged tightly, with Vixy letting go of her grip somewhat. "What's the matter?"

Vixy looked at him, with eyes full of joy. "I have something to tell you..." She put her muzzle to his ear and whispered.

Peppy saw James in the foreground of the crowd and yelled his name. James heard, but he couldn't respond, as he was still trying to digest the news that Vixy just told him. Peppy had to grab his arm to snap James out of it. He saw Vixy blow a kiss to him, which he couldn't respond to as Peppy was dragging him along to the ship.

---------Transport---------

"Jimmy, what is it?" asked Peppy.

James was still in a trance. He barely responded to the group conversation, which was, as usual, about something not very relevant to anything.

"Sir? Is something wrong?" asked Monroe.

"No..." James finally said, albeit more of a whisper. "There's nothing wrong at all."

"Then what is it?" asked Pepper. "You look sick."

It took them a while to finally get a response from him. In that time, James was thinking in his head how he got this far. How he could deserve something so wonderful. How his life was really changing. After all of this contemplating, he finally told them.

This revoked a silence throughout the room. They stared at him in disbelief. "A what, James?" asked Pepper.

James could still hardly believe it when he said it. His face was washed away of the sick look he had, and was rejuvenated with a joyful smile that spread across. He said it again, wanting to cheer. The others did that for him, as they shouted congratulations towards him over and over again. James smiled widely, never feeling happier in his life.

The leaders sat there awkwardly.

---------Katina---------

The 1st Ranger Battalion were waiting at the landing zone, as the Transport descended to the ground. James and his company went off first, followed by Pepper. They met Captain Ramsey.

"Three former Rangers, huh? Well, we have The One Eyed Ogre here with us," he said, pointing over to his battalion, who had the Ogre in cuffs. "You know, for someone who stabbed his own eye out, he sure did put up a fight. Anyway, where's the others?"

"They're still on the ship," said James.

"Well, bring them out. We have some representatives from the other four planets that we're going to speak to."

---------Conference Room---------

James led the way into the room, which was orangish in color and tone. Solar shone a bit through the shades covering the windows. There was a large table in the middle and chairs all around. On the opposite side, there were the representatives from the other planets. Pepper followed James, who was then followed by the five leaders. They took their seats, along with the representatives. James walked back outside, where his company was waiting. The Rangers walked in, shutting the door behind them.

"Now we wait," said James.

An hour has past by, and nothing has happened yet. They sat on the floor, watching the Katinian soldiers strolling around. They looked at them with looks that said, "Hey, no hard feelings, right?" James and the others returned the looks. Other soldiers from the other planets were seen sitting in different areas. They gave them looks that said, "Um... about that time I shot at you... sorry about that." It was sort of uncomfortable being in the same area of a crowd, who were all once your enemies.

Pepper opened the door and walked out, followed by the leaders, the representatives, and the Rangers. 

"We're taking the leaders home," said Pepper. "It's all over." He said it in such a matter-of-fact way, it seemed as if the war never happened.

---------Transport---------

The leaders excluding The One Eyed Ogre were all being sent home. They spent the trip time trying to make amends with the Cornerians.

"Andross just had me convinced," said Harry Caruso. "I feel like such a jackass, putting my trust in somebody like him."

"That's all in the past," said Pepper. "Now we all need to do is find him and give him what he deserves."

"I think we're gonna need more than a death penalty for that guy," said James.

"We can lead you to Eladard," said Bruce Brodie. "Although I don't think he'd be there after he hears about this."

"That's fine. I just hope he leaves _something _behind that'll lead us to him," said Pepper.

"_Where to first, sir?" _asked ROB.

"Um... we'll go to Fichina first, that's pretty close by."

"This is really weird," said Page.

"I know," Plant agreed. "But I just don't think it's over quite yet."

"What makes you say that?" asked Townshend.

"I mean, we still have to find Andross," said Plant, "and he sure isn't going to go down without a fight. It's possible he might have an army in Eladard."

"He does," said James. "They were the ones who captured me in Titania. But I'm thinking that army consisted of soldiers from the other planets. And once they hear about this news, they're probably not going to be very happy."

"Well, still," said Plant, still unsure, "he'll definitely have something up his sleeve."

---------Eladard---------

"**People! I bring you horrible news from your planets," **said Andross on the loudspeaker. **"It seems as though they have betrayed me. The Cornerians have finally convinced them that I have made the bomb. It took them long enough."**

This brought scattered laughter to the crowd.

"**Now it seems as though I'm back to where I've started. I'm once again a marked man who will be hunted down for what may be years. But the only difference is that I now have an army under my control. You all are my weapons against Corneria, Zoness, Titania, Fichina, Macbeth, and Katina. Together, we shall fight off our adversaries and wipe all of them out!"**

The crowd of soldiers, scientists, and other staff cheered loudly as Andross walked off the stage. He walked into the crowd, which cleared a path for him to walk through. The cheer was deafening, but not out of control. He reached his office building and took the elevator up to the top floor. He grinned at himself as he reached his office. He walked out of the elevator and strolled to his desk. Sitting on his swivel chair, he rolled to the window to see the crowds of people scurry back to their work stations. He pulled out a small valve of transparent liquid out of his desk drawer and smiled at it. It has done him good.

_To be continued..._

Note: Because this story is starting to get pretty long, I've decided to just write a sequel instead of continuing on with this one. It'll probably be called "Latter Days of James McCloud." Thanks for reading and reviewing!


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